The Department of Labor is once again changing how it defines independent contractors: For issues around the Fair Labor Standards Act, DOL said it will no longer use the Biden-era 2024 interpretive rule to define independent contractors under its own investigations.
Donald Harrison, DOL’s Wage and Hour Division acting administrator, announced the change in a public bulletin on May 1.
“WHD will no longer apply the 2024 Rule’s analysis when determining employee versus contractor status in FLSA investigations,” Harrison said. However, he noted that the rule remains in effect for private litigation.
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Independent contractor definitions under FLSA have endured messy changes since 2020. Donald Trump’s first administration tried to change DOL’s interpretation of independent contractors, moving away from judicial precedent in favor of a simpler rule that tended toward independent contractors. The Biden administration’s DOL canceled that rule, later issuing its own interpretation of independent contractors that was closer to judicial precedent.
In his letter, Harrison only announced that DOL would not follow the Biden-era interpretation; Trump’s administration is still working to formally rescind or replace the interpretation.
Contractor classification can have major ramifications for commercial carriers. Some fleets depend on the independent contractor classification for more affordable, flexible labor. DOL refers to the president’s interpretive rules to decide whether drivers are being misclassified as contractors instead of employees.
Since Trump’s first attempt to issue interpretive rules on the matter in 2020, the American Trucking Associations, Truckload Carriers Association, and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have seen the definition as an important policy issue.
ATA, which favored the 2020 rule, commended DOL’s announcement. ATA also hosted DOL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer for a keynote address at the group's Mid-Year Management Session five days after the announcement.
“I’m here today to deliver a clear message: President Trump and I are proud to have your back,” Chavez-DeRemer told trucking industry businesses at the keynote.
