The U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed rule on independent contractor status available here.
 
This is the second attempt to rescind the previous administration's regulation on this subject. Their first attempt was overturned after a legal challenge.
 
Unlike the previous rule, which gave weight to core factors to be used in determining economic dependence, this time “the Department is not proposing the use of ‘core factors’ but instead proposes to return to a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis of the economic reality test in which the factors do not have a predetermined weight and are considered in view of the economic reality of the whole activity.”
 
The 45-day comment period to comment on the proposal is open. We encourage everyone to provide their comments by going to www.regulations.gov and searching for the proposed rule.
 
The American Trucking Association will be filing comments, but if you have specific items that you would like them to consider please send an email to Bernice Creager at bcreager@caltrux.org.