ABC supports Department of Labor proposal to rescind Biden-era rule

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) “strongly supports” the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcement of a proposed rule that will rescind and replace the ABC-opposed 2024 Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act final rule.

“The 2024 final rule creates an ambiguous and difficult-to-interpret standard for determining independent contractor status,” says Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs. “Under the rule’s multifactor test, employers are forced to guess which factors should be given the greatest weight in making the determination.”

She added that Washington-based ABC is pleased to see DOL is working to simplify and clarify the factors for determining when a worker is an independent contractor or an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act. ABC says it looks forward to providing comments to the DOL on the proposed rule.

ABC, its Southeast Texas chapter, the Coalition for Workforce Innovation and five other organizations are challenging the 2024 final rule in federal court, which is currently pending litigation.

“Instead of promoting much-needed economic growth and protecting legitimate independent contractors, the 2024 final rule results in more confusion and expensive, time-consuming, unnecessary and often frivolous litigation as both employers and workers will not understand who qualifies as an independent contractor,” Swearingen says.