DOL Drops Biden-Era Gig Worker Independent Contractor Rules

by Prof. Robert Bloink and Prof. William H. Byrnes

Typically, employers who get it wrong when it comes to worker classification risk steep penalties—although the financial benefits of using independent contractors, rather than common law employees, are clear. It’s historically been a challenge to determine whether any given worker can rightfully be characterized as a contractor—and the standard has shifted again and again in recent years. Now, the winds are changing again under the second Trump administration. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-1, announcing that it will no longer be enforcing the 2024 Biden-era standard for evaluating independent contractor status. Instead, WHD will revert to older standards that are widely viewed as being more flexible—thus potentially resulting in more workers being classified as independent contractors.

Evolving Standard for Classifying Workers