Putting the Brakes on the Gig Economy? Biden DOL Delays Effective Date of Final Rule on Independent Contractor Status | Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP jdsupra.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jdsupra.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
One day after President Biden entered office, the White House issued a memorandum directing all agencies to review, and consider delaying, any rules that had been issued by the former administration but that were not yet effective. Following that directive, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed delaying the effective dates of the recently-issued Tip Regulations and Independent Contractor Final Rules. Under the proposal, the effective dates of these Final Rules would be postponed 60 days, from March 1, 2021 to April 30, 2021 for the Tip Regulations Final Rule and from March 8, 2021 to May 7, 2021 for the Independent Contractor Final Rule.
Friday, January 22, 2021
In 2017, then-Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta, appointed by former President Donald Trump, announced the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) would be reviving the practice of issuing Opinion Letters, seeking to “provide clarity that helps increase compliance to the benefit of all.”
Opinion Letters represent official statements of DOL policy and, therefore, may form the basis of a “good faith” defense to an alleged Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violation. During the Obama administration, the DOL stopped issuing such letters. Instead, it opted for more limited “Administrator Interpretations” that covered broader issues as opposed to the often nitty-gritty details addressed in Opinion Letters.