A move by the federal Labor Department that will make it easier for businesses to classify their workers as independent contractors offers a boon to gig-economy companies in the final weeks of the Trump administration.
Under the final rule released Wednesday by the Labor Department, it will become harder for gig workers or others involved in contract work, such as truck drivers or contract nurses, to be considered employees under federal law and get minimum wage and overtime. The rule is set to go into effect March 8.
“We’re hoping and expecting it will be frozen or undone,” she said. “But it’s not a done deal by any stretch.” California, alongside a handful of other states, has passed its own set of laws governing worker classification. A 2018 California Supreme Court decision called Dynamex established stricter standards under which workers can be treated as independent contractors rather than employees. The state Legislature then passed a sweeping labor law that codified that ruling. Gig economy companies fought the law vigorously before it went into effect at the beginning of 2020.
suhaunah ANOTHER BLOW TO WORKING AMERICANS.