In earlier blogs (here and here), we explained the need for clearer guidelines when classifying workers as independent contractors and the changes to this important legislation. The test for determining worker status has been ambiguous and subject to interpretation over the decades and the revision slated to take effect on March 8, 2021 added more specificity to these five factors:
- the nature and degree of control over the work;
- the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss based on initiative and investment;
- the amount of skill required for the work;
- the degree of permanence of the working relationship between the worker and the potential employer;
- whether the work is part of an integrated unit of production.
The Department of Labor is proposing a delay in order to “review the multiple issues of law, policy, and fact that warrant additional review and consideration” before finalizing the Independent Contractor Rule.
For now, the effective date of the changes has been postponed to May 7, 2021.