12.14.22

Hoeven, Colleagues Urge DOL to Protect Independent Contractor Classification

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven this week joined Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) in urging the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) not to move forward with a proposed rule for determining independent contractor classification due to the negative impact it would have on workers and business, as well as devastating consequences for the U.S. economy. The proposed DOL rule includes a six-factor economic reality test to determine whether a worker is “economically dependent” on a company under a totality of the circumstances.

“We urge DOL not to move forward with its proposed rule for determining independent contractor classification due to this negative impact on workers and businesses, the test’s lack of clarity, and the devastating consequences for the U.S. economy. The proposed rule will jeopardize millions of individuals’ independent contractor status under the FLSA. Instead, DOL should maintain the 2021 rule, which was designed for the modern economy and brought clarity to workers and businesses,” the lawmakers wrote. 

In addition to Hoeven, Braun, Burr and Thune, the letter is signed by Senators Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.). Click here to read the full text of the letter.  

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