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Regulation and Compliance > Federal Regulation

House Panel to Hold Hearing on DOL Indie Contractor Rule

By Melanie Waddell

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The House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, chaired by Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., plans to hold a hearing April 19 on the Labor Department’s independent contractor rule, which Labor is expected to finalize in May.

The hearing is titled “Examining Biden’s War on Independent Contractors.”

“The last thing our economy needs right now is overreaching federal policies that discourage work and attack workers,” Kiley said in a statement.

“Yet DOL’s independent contractor rule and the PRO Act, like [Assembly Bill] 5 in California, do just that — depriving millions of Americans of the opportunity to work independently and start their own business,” Kiley continued. “The Biden administration is all in on these failed policies, even nominating the architect of the disastrous AB 5 law, Julie Su,” to head Labor.

The Financial Services Institute, a trade group for independent financial advisors, has maintained that Labor should withdraw its independent contractor rule.

Labor’s regulatory flexibility agenda states that the department plans to issue a final independent contractor rule in May. David Bellaire, FSI’s general counsel, told ThinkAdvisor previously that Labor’s deadline is unrealistic.

President Joe Biden officially sent  Su’s nomination as the new labor secretary to the Senate in mid-March.

Su, currently deputy secretary of labor, would replace Marty Walsh, who left the post in March to become the head of the National Hockey League Players’ Association.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said in mid-March that Su “has a troubling record and is currently overseeing the Department of Labor’s development of anti-worker regulations that will dismantle the gig economy. This does not inspire confidence in her ability to hold her current position, let alone be promoted.”

Cassidy previously voted against her nomination as deputy secretary.

As the former head of California’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Su led “the implementation of AB 5 that removed the flexibility of individuals to work as independent contractors,” Cassidy noted.

“AB 5 is so flawed, that California voters supported Prop 22 by a vote of nearly 59% to provide an exemption for rideshare drivers. A legal challenge to Prop 22 currently awaits a court opinion in California,” Cassidy added.

“If finalized,” Cassidy opined, “the new regulation would make it difficult for individuals who wish to keep flexibility in how, when and where they choose to work.”

(Image: Shutterstock)

Melanie Waddell

@Think_MelanieW

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