July 10, 2024
When employers misclassify employees as independent contractors, workers are denied minimum wage, overtime, and other workplace protections. A new rule from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) seeks to address this problem by clarifying the standard that courts should apply in assessing whether a worker is considered an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Unfortunately, corporate interests want a weaker standard that permits them to increase profits by misclassifying workers, and consequently, they have begun filing lawsuits against USDOL. We’re joining fellow advocates in pushing back, showing courts across the country why the new rule is essential to protecting workers’ rights. The Democracy Forward Foundation represented the PJC, Farmworker Justice, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, Real Women in Trucking, SEIU, and the Economic Policy Institute to file amicus briefs in Louisiana, Texas, and Georgia that argue that the rule will reduce the number of employees being misclassified as independent contractors and specifically describe the impact on home care workers, seasonal farmworkers, app-based delivery drivers, and truck drivers. The briefs illustrate the devastating consequences of misclassification, which cheats workers of full wages, benefits, paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation; increases their tax burdens and work expenses; and excludes them from workplace safety and retaliation protections. These harms fall especially heavily on people of color and immigrants as a result of occupational segregation and labor market disparities fueled by structural racism. Misclassification also hurts the economy by reducing tax revenue governments need to fund public services, increasing the need for workers to rely on public benefits, and reducing the income workers have available to spend. The briefs incorporate the experiences of workers’ rights advocates, including an analysis of misclassification in the home care industry based on the PJC’s experience representing home care workers and a citation of a law review article written by PJC attorney David Rodwin. We hope that the briefs will educate the courts on the importance of the new USDOL rule to ensuring that workers are paid fully and fairly for their labor.
