Posts tagged wage and hour
Businesses Cry Foul on DOL Messaging for Trump Gig Worker Rule
May 8, 2023 // “My discussions with DOL investigators and the solicitor’s office out of Atlanta was exactly the same before the Trump regulations and after the Trump regulations,” McCutchen said. In her interactions with the agency, WHD investigators mentioned and recognized the agency was bound by the Trump rule, but didn’t follow the structure of the Trump test when analyzing whether one of her clients was a contractor or an employee, she said. “They didn’t say, ‘Let’s look at the two core factors,’” she explained, “or, ‘Now we’re going to look at the three additional factors,’ which is the structure of the Trump regulations. They didn’t do that.” The Trump rule has been in place for over two years, and given how it diverged from the Obama-era approach to worker classification, the department should be reaching out to field officers and offering training and guidance, said Michael Lotito, co-chair of Littler Mendelson PC’s Workplace Policy Institute. Simply acknowledging the rule isn’t enough, he added.
Opinion: Amidst inflation, President Biden should refocus his efforts on expanding flexible work careers for Americans
August 9, 2022 // Why is championing flexible work through reforms so important? Independent contractors make up a sizeable portion of the 59 million freelancers in the U.S. economy, employ tens of millions of additional workers under their contracts as small businesses, and are often the entrepreneurs that grow successful new businesses in communities. Modern Worker Empowerment Act, California Supreme Court
Trucking Looks for New Owner-Operator Strategies as Independent Contractor Model is Threatened
August 2, 2022 // Motor carriers that use owner-operators in California are working to re-evaluate their operations in order to meet strict restrictions on the use of independent contractors, as labor officials at the national level push to crack down on “employee misclassification” as well. Recent independent trucker protests that brought the Port of Oakland to a crawl gained plenty of media attention, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office indicated a lack of concern. Landstar, Joe Rajkovacz with the Western States Trucking Association, oil and gas industry, two-check system, TransForce AB5 Dedicated Solutions Program, TransForce, New Jersey, Illinois, Washington, and New York,
Department of Labor Rule – Coalition Letter
July 22, 2022 // The January 7, 2021 DOL rule has provided clarity to the decades-old economic realities test for the modern workforce, helping to apply determinations in light of the different types of work and technologies used to work and connect with customers today. Instead of removing this clear and sensible standard and attempting to diminish or eliminate independent contracting, we urge you to preserve paths to self-employment that allow tens of millions of working Americans, parents of children with special needs, workers seeking career changes, disabled workers and workers caring for disabled family members, and entrepreneurs growing small businesses of their own to pursue work on their own terms. Brent Wm. Gardner, Brandon Arnold, Grover Norquist, Michael J. Lotito, Greg Sindelar, Krisztina Pusok, Ph. D., The American Consumer, American Legislative Exchange Council, Lisa B. Nelson, Center for Freedom and Prosperity, Andrew F. Quinlan, Robert Fellner, Heather R. Higgins, Independent Women's Voice, Bethany Marcum, Alaska Policy Forum, Mike Stenhouse, Mike Hruby, New Jobs America, Paul Gessing, Rio Grande Foundation, Seton Motley, Less Government, Robert Alt, Steve Delie, Brian Minnich, Daniel Erspamer, Pelican Institute, Eric Peterson, Pelican Center for Technology and Innovation, Randy Hicks, Georgia Center for Opportunity, Alliance for Opportunity, Jeffrey Mazzella, Center for Individual Freedom, Douglas Carswell, Mississippi Center for Public Policy, David Williams, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Ryan Ellis, Center for a Free Economy, Phil Kerpen, American Commitment, James Taylor, The Heartland Institute, Adam Brandon, FreedomWorks, Elaine Parker, Job Creators Network Foundation, Brandon Dutcher, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Thomas A. Schatz, Citizens Against Government Waste, Justin Owen, Beacon Center of Tennessee, Matthew Kandrach, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, Charles Mitchell, Commonwealth Foundation, James L. Martin, 60 Plus Association, Saulius “Saul” Anuzis, 60 Plus Association,
Congress thwarted Biden on unions. Or did it?
June 24, 2022 // “One of the biggest problems with this DOL is its obvious union favoritism,” the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), said at a hearing this month. “This department has bowed low enough before union bosses to taste dirt. How many times has the Biden administration’s DOL kowtowed before union bosses instead of standing up for workers?” From installing former union official Marty Walsh as Labor secretary, to outfitting the National Labor Relations Board with union alums, to issuing a spate of union-friendly executive orders, the White House has taken significant steps toward expanding union membership despite the challenges presented by a narrowly divided Congress. Steve Rosenthal, Rep. Donald Norcross, Shane Larson, Communication Workers of America, Kate Bronfenbrenner, Doug Parker, Alice Stock, Lauren McFerran, Bobby Scott, Nick Niedzwiadek
Fact Checking Secretary Walsh
June 14, 2022 // Labor Secretary Marty Walsh will make some big claims at this morning’s Education and Labor Committee hearing. Education and Labor Committee Republicans is setting the record straight: Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, multiemployer pension plans, Federal Drug Administration,
Strippers Turn to Unions After Litigation, Legislation Falter
June 3, 2022 // Ryan Carlson, CEO of Deja Vu Services Inc.—one of the largest strip club operators in the US—said seven of his clubs in California became unprofitable and were forced to close after being required to classify dancers as employees. Dancers at the remaining clubs only get part-time shifts, he said.
Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Theft Recovery Backgrounder
May 18, 2022 // “Unfortunately, even if H.R. 7701 is well intended, this legislation applies heavy-handed stipulations, stifling costs, is an unwarranted expansion of DOL powers, and grants government policing powers to special interest groups like unions. It would do more to undermine American workers and businesses than it could ever do to address legitimate instances of improper wages and payments.”
Labor Relations Radio, Ep 13—Guest: Michael Layman of the International Franchise Association
April 1, 2022 // Michael Layman of the International Franchise Association From the ‘ABC Test’ to ‘Joint Employer,’ the franchise business model is under assault on multiple fronts, with millions of jobs at stake.
DOL Nominee Rejected by Senate: David Weil
March 31, 2022 // On March 30, 2022, the Senate rejected the nomination of David Weil to serve as administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The vote failed 47-53.