Department of Labor Issues Final Rule on Independent Contractor Definition under the Fair Labor Standards Act

Seyfarth Synopsis:  Today the U.S. Department of Labor issued its final rule, attempting to define employee versus independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule jettisons an earlier attempt under the prior Administration to modernize and simplify how to determine who is an employee and who is a contractor by focusing on two core factors. The Final Rule instead purports to return to an ambiguous totality-of-the-circumstances approach, while also placing a thumb on the scale in favor of more workers being deemed employees under the FLSA.