The Register, a global online technology news publication, interviewed LVBH attorney Wendy Musell about a change proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor that would make it harder for companies to classify gig workers as independent contractors. As the article explains, the current rules rely on only two criteria to determine how a worker should be classified, while the proposed update expands the criteria for workers to prove they are employees. Since employment status confers many benefits on workers, this distinction is critical.
In the article, Wendy opines, “[f]rom a worker’s rights perspective, as well as having clarity in the workplace, this seems like a very positive move.” She added that “[t]he prior rule…only focused on certain factors and posed problems in labor litigation because it diverged from decades of precendent in prior court decisions that relied on the more nuanced analysis of worker classification.”