01.24.2024USDOL Wage-Hour Division Final Rule on Independent Contractor Status Reverts to Pre-Trump Rule and Rejects “Core Factor” TestOn January 9, 2024 the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a final rule that will apply beginning March 11, 2024 in determining whether a worker can be classified as an independent contractor as opposed to an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The 2024 Rule modifies Wage and Hour Division regulations by adopting an analysis that the agency claims is more consistent with judicial precedent and the FLSA’s text and purpose than the final rule issued by the agency during the final days of the Trump Administration (2021 Rule).
08.03.2023Entrepreneurial Opportunity Takes A Back Seat In Revised NLRB Test Of Employee Versus Independent Contractor StatusOn June 13, 2023, in a 3-1 decision, the NLRB overruled its own 2019 decision in SuperShuttle DFW and returned to the test of statutory employee status in its 2014 FedEx II decision which it terms carefully calibrated. In doing so, the Board held that the Atlanta Opera’s makeup artists, wig artists, hairstylists, and others who worked at the Opera only when operatic productions were staged are employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act, and not independent contractors. The Atlanta Opera, Inc. The NLRB refused to apply the U.S. Court of Appeals 2009 ruling in FedEx I which held that entrepreneurial opportunity is an animating principle of the independent contractor test and accused the Court of misperceiving Board law. The Board decision in Atlanta Opera leaves no doubt that entrepreneurial opportunity is not a super-factor in the analysis of employee status, and is only one factor to be considered in analyzing independent contractor versus employee status. The NLRB held that its prior SuperShuttle DFW holding is no longer the law since it conflicts with common law agency principles, and U.S. Supreme Court and NLRB precedent.
06.27.2023New York Assembly Passes Bill to Ban Non-Compete AgreementsOn June 20, 2023, the New York State Assembly passed a bill (A1278B) to make non-compete agreements unlawful. The New York State Senate previously passed the bill’s counterpart (S3100A). The bills aim to prohibit non-compete agreements and authorize covered individuals to bring a civil action against employers alleged to have violated the bills’ provisions. The bills make clear that they would ban non-competes entered into or modified after the effective date. If signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, the bills would come into effect 30 days after being signed into law. While the business community reacted with shock and anger at the bills, the proposed bills in New York follow the nationwide trend against non-competes that we have been tracking for the past several years.
11.01.2022New York City Salary Transparency Law Effective November 1, 2022As of November 1, 2022, employers advertising a “job, promotion or transfer opportunity” in the 5 Boroughs of New York City must state the minimum and maximum salary for the position contained in the job posting or advertisement. This law applies to all jobs that will be or can be performed, at least in part, in New York City.
09.15.2022Third Circuit Confirms ABC Test Applies in Wage Theft CaseIn a recent decision in Bailey v. Millennium Group of Delaware et al, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit confirmed that the ABC Test – long used by the New Jersey Department of Labor – sets forth the proper analysis for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the State’s wage and hour laws.
08.10.2022ABC Is Not As Easy as 1-2-3: NJ Supreme Court Issues Independent Business Misclassification Decision On August 2, 2022, the New Jersey Supreme Court in East Bay Drywall, LLC. v. Department of Labor and Workforce Development, issued a unanimous opinion holding that workers, hired on a need and availability basis, who used their own equipment and provided certificates of insurance and business entity registration information, were employees of a drywall installation business and not independent contractors as the company claimed. The Court also held that whether or not the workers could “join the ranks of the unemployed” when the relationship with the company ends directly impacts independent contractor status in New Jersey.
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