Federal independent contractor rules are changing again
The Trump administration’s Department of Labor is pausing its enforcement of independent contractor rules set up by the Biden administration.
The Biden-era guidance, which was finalized in March 2024, gave companies a lot less leeway on who could count as an independent contractor. The guidance also came with a more-complex set of criteria, according to legal experts. The federal rule subsequently was challenged in court, and cases involving the rule are still playing out.
The goal was to prevent companies from misclassifying workers as independent contractors to avoid paying benefits or offering workplace protections. The rule expanded an “economic reality” test that made employers weigh factors such as how much control workers had over their schedule and employment, how permanent that employment was, and how integral their work was to the core functioning of the company.
The rule had rescinded previous independent contractor guidance issued during the first Trump administration.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2025/05/05/independent-contractor-labor-rule-trump-change.html