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ARTICLE · 08 MAY 2025

Guidance On Independent Contractor Versus Employee Classification Rules Is Changing

Thompson Coburn LLP
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On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") released a Field Assistance Bulletin ("FAB") to the Wage and Hour Division essentially stating that it will stop enforcing a Biden-era test...

United StatesEmployment and HR
Susan Lorenc
Susan Lorenc
Shahed Abualsamen
Shahed Abualsamen
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On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") released a Field Assistance Bulletin ("FAB") to the Wage and Hour Division essentially stating that it will stop enforcing a Biden-era test used to determine the classification of independent contractors versus employees. While the guidance does not state the 2024 rule has been officially revoked, it does state that it is currently under review and outlines guidance on how the Wage and Hour Division should approach the analysis.

Background

During Trump's final days in office in 2021, his administration released an independent contractor test that arguably simplified the factors for determining when a worker is an employee versus when a worker is an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). The focus was on whether a worker was dependent on someone else for work. As articulated by the former DOL Wage and Hour Division Administrator, Cheryl Stanton, "a worker is an independent contractor

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