By: Petersen D. Walrod & Kyle D. Winnick
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a new independent contractor rule that would guide courts, companies, and workers in their determinations of who must be paid as an employee and who can be treated as an independent contractor under the FLSA and two other statutes.
After much anticipation, the
Continue Reading DOL Proposes to Readopt the 2021 Independent Contractor Rule with Minor Variations
[New York employers should expect heightened scrutiny of their wage-and-hour policies in 2026.]
As we kick off 2026, it is an important reminder for employers that New York is a hotbed for wage-hour issues. The Eastern and Southern Districts of New York consistently see more cases asserting claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) than any other
Continue Reading Wage and Hour Issues for New York Employers in 2026
Seyfarth Synopsis: Today the U.S. Department of Labor issued its final rule, attempting to define employee versus independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule jettisons an earlier attempt under the prior Administration to modernize and simplify how to determine who is an employee and who is a contractor by focusing
Continue Reading Department of Labor Issues Final Rule on Independent Contractor Definition under the Fair Labor Standards ActBy: Andrew McKinley, Kyle Winnick & Alex Simon
Seyfarth Synopsis: This latest installment in our series on the Department of Labor’s proposed independent contractor rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act focuses on proposed changes to the profit-or-loss analysis as it relates to workers’ investments in their businesses.
A hallmark of independent contractor status is the ability to exercise
Continue Reading DOL’s Proposed FLSA Independent Contractor Rule: Investment as Indicative of Profit and LossBy: Noah Finkel, Camille Olson, Scott Mallery, Andrew McKinley and Kevin Young
Seyfarth Synopsis: Today the U.S. Department of Labor issued its draft new interpretive regulation (or NPRM) attempting to define employee versus independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The NPRM jettisons an earlier attempt under the prior Administration to modernize and simplify how
Continue Reading Meet the New Interpretation, (Pretty Much the) Same as the Old Interpretation: the DOL Proposes Its Own Independent Contractor Definition for the FLSABy: Daniel I. Small, Robert T. Szyba, Howard M. Wexler, and Glenn J. Smith
Seyfarth Synopsis: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a legislative package into law on July 8, 2021 that increases enforcement mechanisms for state agencies to impose a variety of penalties against employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors and creates a new
Continue Reading NJ Continues Its Aggressive Crackdown on Independent Contractor Misclassification
By: Noah Finkel
Seyfarth Synopsis: After delaying the effective date of a finalized Trump-era interpretive regulation that would have brought much needed clarity to the definition of employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the DOL yesterday formally repealed that guidance. The result is that companies, workers, and courts will continue to struggle in classifying which workers are employees
Continue Reading Independent Contractor Classification Clarity, We Hardly Knew Ye
By: Ryan McCoy and Andrew Paley
Seyfarth Synopsis: Back in January 2020, a federal district court enjoined the State of California from enforcing AB 5 against interstate motor carriers. Now, in a split 2-1 decision, a Ninth Circuit panel has reversed the district court, on the rationale that AB 5 is just another generally applicable labor law that affects all
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Applies AB 5 Against Interstate Motor Carriers
Recorded by Scott Mallery and Eric Lloyd
Often, what happens in California is a good bellwether for what could happen in the policy space on a federal level. And we believe worker classification is no different.
In this episode of Seyfarth’s Policy Matters Podcast, Counsel Scott Mallery and Partner Eric Lloyd provide an overview of where the law on misclassification
Continue Reading Policy Matters Podcast – Episode 6: How California’s Controversial Worker Classification Test Could Affect Federal Policy
By: Eric M. Lloyd & Pamela L. Vartabedian
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court held that the worker friendly “ABC” test set forth by the Court in its 2018 landmark ruling, Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, applies retroactively. The ABC test thus applies to all pending cases governed by the California Wage Orders in
Continue Reading California Supreme Court Rules That Dynamex ABC Test Applies Retroactively