Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President of the Employment Policy Division Glenn Spencer released the following statement:
“While acknowledging the importance of the independent contractor model to the economy, the Department of Labor’s new Independent Contractor proposal does not provide the clarity of the 2021 rule it seeks to replace. The proposed rule has a number of concerning provisions that could have significant negative impacts on workers and small businesses. Chief among these is that by returning to a ‘totality-of-the-circumstances analysis’ approach where all factors of the economic realities test are treated equally, it will be unclear whether someone has been properly classified. Under the 2021 regulation, certain factors were given more weight which made the classification determination more reliable. Moreover, by stating that an employment relationship is indicated if a worker provides services that are ‘integral’ to a business, the proposed rule threatens to sweep in a wide range of professions and industries. We hope to work with the Department through the comment process to improve the proposal.”
