Coalition launches campaign to fight DOL’s independent contractor rule

A coalition of independent workers and advocacy groups announced a campaign Wednesday to try to overturn the Labor Department’s independent contractor rule, which was finalized in January and is set to go into effect Monday.

The rule will change how long-term care operators and other employers determine who is an employee and who is an independent contractor.

Because of the rule, “countless independent workers will be redefined as employees overnight — even if it’s not what these workers want,” the coalition, called Save Independent Work, maintains.

The coalition, which includes the California Business and Industrial Alliance, Freelancers Against AB5 and the Commonwealth Foundation, argue that the new rule will have a “damaging impact” on independent workers and small businesses, according to a press release. The group has launched a letter-writing campaign to some members of Congress urging them to stop implementation of the rule.

“The coalition is also working to emphasize that reclassifying independent workers against their will has already backfired in California thanks to California Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) which threatened to make it essentially impossible to operate as an independent business owner or freelancer in California,” the group said.

The campaign launch coincides with the introduction of a Congressional Review Act resolution Wednesday by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), meant to challenge the rule. The legislators claim that the independent contractor rule “threatens the gig economy and jeopardizes the ability of 27 million Americans to work as independent contractors.” 

Additionally, according to two Republican members of the US Senate Special Committee on Aging, the independent contractor rule could pose a “significant threat” to older working Americans’ income, security and peace of mind.

Baker & Hostetler partner Todd Lebowitz previously told the McKnight’s Business Daily that he doesn’t believe that, in practice, the rule will have a significant effect on employers, because the scope of the rule applies only to the Federal Labor Standard Act.

“It does not apply to determining who’s an employee under federal tax law or federal benefits law or federal discrimination law or any state law,” Lebowitz said.