Posts tagged Independent Contractor
ATA Endorses Modern Worker Empowerment Act
May 26, 2025 // The ATA official also pointed to a Republican-sponsored bill as a tool meant to reinforce the industry’s support for the Trump-era independent contractor model. The Modern Worker Empowerment Act, introduced by Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) in February, would establish a comprehensive test for arriving at a worker classification. “If enacted,” Mehrens explained, “this bill would codify the common-sense framework from the first Trump term to determine whether an individual is an independent contractor or an employee.”
MICHIGAN: Independent Contractor Restrictions, New Wage Mandates Advance in Senate Proposal
May 18, 2025 // Senate Bills 6 and 7 would reshape employment laws in Michigan by adding problematic and onerous new “wage transparency” mandates and penalties on ALL employers and industries. Although the Senate Labor Committee limited the California-style independent contractor test to the construction industry (NAICS Sector 23), the change will significantly hinder the industry’s ability to use contractors and subcontractors — including business-to-business relationships — ultimately driving up costs across the board.
Trump Labor Department Pauses Gig Worker Rule, Plans Repeal
May 5, 2025 // The announcement, made in an enforcement guidance May 1, brings to fruition plans to rescind the rule—which the Trump administration has signaled in response to pending litigation over the policy. “Agency investigators are directed not to apply the 2024 rule’s analysis in current enforcement matters,” according to a DOL press release. “This approach provides greater clarity for businesses and workers navigating modern work arrangements while legal and regulatory questions are resolved.”
State labor department proposes new rules for independent contractor status
April 29, 2025 // The notice of proposal for new rules will be published in the May 5, 2025, issue of the New Jersey Register, and there will be a 60-day period beginning that day during which the NJDOL will accept written comments on the proposed new rules. The proposed rules outline the application of the ABC test, which is critical in determining whether a worker should be classified as an employee or an independent contractor under various New Jersey statutes, including but not limited to the Unemployment Compensation Law, the Wage and Hour Law, and the Wage Payment Law. The proposed rules include detailed guidelines for evaluating the three parts of the ABC test, ensuring that employers are well-informed and better equipped to make appropriate classification decisions.
OOIDA makes now-solo case in court that California’s AB5 should exempt trucking
April 23, 2025 // For OOIDA, which is carrying on the lawsuit that was originally filed by the California Trucking Association in 2019, the issue is clear: AB5 “categorically prohibits leased owner operators from operating in California,” OOIDA outside counsel Paul D. Cullen Jr. said in his opening remarks. (CTA last August decided not to pursue the appeal to the 9th Circuit.)
Truckers tell Ninth Circuit that California law unfairly bans independent contractor drivers
April 10, 2025 // Though a business-to-business exemption is available under the law, the association says members can't apply because they have to follow contradictory federal law that says trucking companies need to have exclusive control over trucks involved in interstate commerce. “One of the requirements of the business-to-business exemption is that the worker be free from the control of the business. Leased owner-operators in inter-state commerce must comply with federal regulations called the Truth In Leasing regulations which require the motor carrier to have exclusive possession and control of the vehicle and the operation of that vehicle in inter-state commerce. Whatever the scope of that control is it can’t be squared with the B2B requirement that the worker be free from control. It’s irreconcilable,” Cullen said.
Kim Kavin: Intent to Reconsider
April 8, 2025 // The federal government has indicated in court that it may rescind the Biden-Harris administration’s independent-contractor rule and undertake the process of new rule-making. Yesterday, the U.S. Labor Department filed a status report in one of several lawsuits against the Biden-Harris administration over its independent contractor rule. This status report was filed with regard to the Frisard case, whose plaintiff is represented by Liberty Justice Center and the Pelican Institute.
Tennessee Supports Independent Workers
April 7, 2025 // A portable benefits account is designed to empower contract and freelance workers by helping them save for key benefits such as health insurance, income replacement, retirement, and disability insurance. These accounts are owned by—or legally tied to—the worker and remain with them as they move between jobs, industries, or locations. This portability gives independent workers the flexibility and security they need to thrive. This year, Senator Bo Watson sponsored SB1377, accompanied by Representative Charlie Baum’s HB494, which allows any person or entity to contribute to a worker’s portable benefits account. The legislation includes three key protections
Construction groups decry PRO Act’s reintroduction
March 13, 2025 // “The reintroduction of the PRO Act displays continued disregard for the livelihoods of small business owners, employees and independent contractors,” said Swearingen. “While Congress has long rejected the PRO Act and its provisions, these legislators continue to pursue failed policies and attack business models and fundamental freedoms that have fueled entrepreneurship, job creation and opportunity for the American worker.”
Commentary: Freelance Busting: The Ratio Reality
March 11, 2025 // Democrats, led by Senate and House Minority Leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, just reintroduced the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act. Named for a former head of the AFL-CIO, this bill, H.R. 20, does the same thing that California Governor Gavin Newsom claimed AB5 would do. The PRO Act aims to reclassify independent contractors as employees as a way to empower union organizers. As Jeffries put it in Congress: “When our unions are strong, the United States of America is strong.” Republicans, led by Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, put forward the Modern Worker Empowerment Act. This bill, H.R. 1319, aims to stop California’s experiment from spreading. It would protect everyone’s freedom to be our own bosses. As Kiley put it: “California’s disastrous AB5 law wreaked havoc on independent workers, stripping them of their ability to work on their own terms and forcing businesses to cut off contractor relationships. Shifting federal regulations threaten to impose similar uncertainty nationwide, putting millions of workers at risk.”