On September 22, 2020, the federal Department of Labor (DOL) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding rules for employers to follow when classifying a worker as an independent contractor or an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This analysis is especially important to employers as the gig economy grows throughout the United States and companies such as Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash rely heavily on gig workers. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking can be interpreted as a loosening of the standards, so that employers will more easily be able to classify workers as independent contractors once the rule is finalized.
