UPDATE: Governor Hochul vetoed the bill on December 23, 2022.

In 2016, New York City enacted the Freelance Isn’t Free Act, a local law establishing protections for certain freelance workers providing services for entities located in the City. Earlier this month, the New York State Legislature approved a bill providing similar protections to freelance

The U.S. Department of Labor announced on July 29 that it will rescind the March 2020 rule on Joint Employer Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “2020 Rule”).  The DOL’s action removes the regulations established by the 2020 Rule and will become effective on September 28, 2021.

2020 Joint Employer Rule

The 2020

In a complaint filed on March 26, 2021, business groups challenged a U.S. Department of Labor March 4, 2021 final rule to delay the effective date of the Trump-era regulation on independent contractor classification.  As we previously reported, that Trump-era rule, which was finalized two weeks before President Biden took office, was initially scheduled

We’re 50 days into the Biden administration.  Here’s an update on where things stand with respect to wage and hour law at the federal level:

  • On March 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD)—as expected—announced its proposals to rescind the Trump-era rules on independent contractor classification and joint employment.
    • WHD’s

As expected, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced the withdrawal of three opinion letters issued in the waning days of the Trump administration.  The opinion letters being withdrawn are:

  • FLSA2021-4, which addressed whether a restaurant may institute a tip pool under the Fair Labor Standards Act that includes both servers,

In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, partners Harris Mufson and Allan Bloom discuss the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed new rule on independent contractor classification.  In recent years, the misclassification of workers as independent contractors has been the subject of a number of private lawsuits and investigations by government agencies.  This is true for traditional industries and also companies within the gig economy, which rely heavily on independent contractors.  So be sure to tune in as we address how this proposed rule may impact employers’ classification of workers.

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