Posts tagged Independent Contractor
Op-ed: To High Praise and Hallelujahs, Trump Nominates Keith Sonderling for Secretary of Labor
June 30, 2026 // As Acting Secretary, Sonderling has strongly advocated for Trump's pro-business and pro-worker agenda, touting the manufacturing jobs that have been returned to the U.S., and has worked tirelessly to beef up and expand apprenticeships through the U.S. Department of Labor for small businesses and private-sector concerns. Under Biden's DOL, apprenticeships were issued through the major labor unions like the AFL-CIO and SEIU, effectively cutting out any private sector opportunities. Sonderling has also long been a champion for defined benefit pension plan sponsors to be able to use group annuities to protect pension benefits through pension risk transfers, and to allow employers to incorporate retirement plan options like cryptocurrency assets and private credit funds. But most pivotal, Sonderling is working hand-in-hand with the Fraud Task Force to eradicate the rampant unemployment insurance fraud.
Portable Benefits Win in Six More States
June 24, 2026 // A company willing to contribute toward benefits risks having the independent contractor reclassified as a traditional W2 employee, which brings new tax obligations, wage rules, and liability. Faced with that risk, most companies contribute nothing. Independent contractors are left to pay for benefits on their own, and many go without, with no safety net if they get sick, lose work, or grow old without savings. Portable benefits laws cut that knot. They establish that a voluntary contribution to a worker’s benefit account does not make the worker an employee. The account under this framework belongs to the worker, rather than the company, and follows them from one contract to the next. Contributions can fund health coverage, retirement savings, paid leave, disability protection, and emergency income, the protections a traditional job provides.
Minnesota Business Owner Warns Against California-Style Attacks on Freelancers
June 15, 2026 // VanDerBill said she knew she had to try to make sure Minnesota’s task force wasn’t completely biased against independent contracting, so she applied to sit on it. To her surprise, she ended up securing a seat. She said she was shocked she was the only voice on the task force representing business owners or independent contractors who opposed increased regulations on their work. VanDerBill said that while she doesn’t want to throw labor unions under the bus, she believes they are partly to blame for the attacks on freelancing. Union membership has been falling over the last few decades, and unions requiring workers to be classified as full-time employees rather than freelancers could be one way to reverse that trend.
Jonathon Wolfson: Testimony before the House Committee on Education and Workforce
June 10, 2026 // In short, locum tenens is not a temporary patch on a permanent problem; it is a permanent and growing part of the healthcare access solution. In many areas, the choice is not between a permanent healthcare provider and a locum tenens healthcare provider. The choice is between a locum tenens healthcare provider and no provider at all. Any policy that undermines locum tenens would directly harm the patients who depend on it.
New Jersey Codifies ABC Test for Independent Contractor Classification
June 1, 2026 // For employers, the practical lesson is familiar: states continue to move toward more aggressive worker-classification enforcement, and California remains the clearest example of that trend. California has led the nation in challenging independent contractor classifications through the ABC framework and related litigation and enforcement activity. New Jersey’s recent legislation reflects that same direction, and New York has also continued moving toward a more worker-protective approach. Other states have likewise adopted ABC-style tests in at least some contexts, making it increasingly risky for businesses to rely on a uniform, multistate independent contractor model without jurisdiction-specific review.
NEW JERSEY: NJBIA Urges Sherrill Administration to Not Adopt Independent Contractor Rule
April 29, 2026 // Further, in data highlighted in Extremism and Entrepreneurism, a 98-page report from Freelance Busting founder Kim Kavin, there is already empirical research by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University showing that New Jersey’s ABC test applications have already resulted in the following from 1995-2024: a 3.81% decrease in W-2 employment a 10.08% decrease in self-employment a 3.95% decrease in overall employment a 7.40% decrease in women’s W-2 employment Kavin’s report also found evidence suggesting the underlying claim by labor groups to restrict independent contracting in New Jersey was based “largely on mischaracterized data and research.”
Opinion– Editorial Board: Why the Republican-union alliance never works
April 22, 2026 // "The new acting secretary, Keith Sonderling, is a more conventional Republican choice for the job. Respected by conservatives, he would sail through the Senate confirmation process if nominated. He has already been competently running the department as deputy secretary, as it has advanced deregulation and protected independent contractor status for 11.9 million workers"
Minnesota Small Businesses Challenge Independent Contractor Statute
March 25, 2026 // NFIB joined a coalition of business organizations in filing a lawsuit in Minnesota state court challenging the new independent contractor test that was passed in 2024 as part of the Jumbo Omnibus Bill, H.F. 5247. The statute enacts a rigorous fourteen-factor test for determining the classification of independent contractors and imposes extreme financial and criminal penalties for even well-meaning small businesses should they fail to comply. J&M Consulting
Commentary: The Federal Government Just Moved to Restore the Owner-Operator Model – Here Is What Actually Changed, What Did Not, and What You Still Need to Watch
March 16, 2026 // Three times in five years. That is how many times the federal standard governing whether an owner-operator is legally classified as an independent contractor or an employee has fundamentally shifted under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The 2021 Trump rule. The 2024 Biden rule. And now, on February 27, 2026, the Department of Labor’s formal proposal to rescind the 2024 rule and return to something close to the 2021 framework. Each time this pendulum swings, the trucking industry produces a wave of celebration or alarm depending on which direction it moved. The industry’s reaction to this latest move has been heavily celebratory — and not without reason. But if you are running a small fleet or operating as an owner-operator, the celebration needs to come with a clear-eyed understanding of what this rule change actually does, what it does not do, and where the real risk to your business model still sits.
Op-ed: LABOR SEC CHAVEZ-DEREMER: Our plan to rescind the Biden independent contractor rule
March 15, 2026 // In that spirit, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released a proposed rule that provides clarity to help workers and employers alike determine when a worker is properly classified as an independent contractor and when that worker is an employee owed rigorous protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In proposing this rule, we celebrate the decisions of Americans who choose to test their entrepreneurial spirit — the same spirit on which our country was founded 250 years ago.