On the 29th of June 2022, United States Department of Labor (USDOL) held an online “Worker Open Forum” event specifically designed to “hear diverse perspectives from those who may be affected by employee or independent contractor classification.” Independent professionals were invited to provide public and written comments. The Senate was at that time trying to rewrite the PRO Act into some bill to get it passed, however due to the outrage and the advocacy of many of the 54 million independent professionals across the U.S., they were not successful.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell of RedState commented online regarding this:
“The PRO Act wants to rob me of not only my autonomy and my intellectual property, but it wants to enslave me into a system that does not work for all people. This administration’s attempt at robbing me of not only my freedom of choice, but assuming it knows what is best for me as a Black woman, is not only paternalistic, but it’s inherently racist.”
Numerous other independent contractors also wrote and sent written submissions to the USDOL. However, in the end, the agenda was clearly laid out by the USDOL and that did not have anything to do with taking note of their opinion.
There was a lot of misinformation concerning the rooms online in which the forum would take place, which meant that there were two discussions taking place in two distinct online forums. Also, on a different date it was reported that the USDOL also had a backdoor session which was not publicized and did not have independent workers involved, but instead union activists and Labor leadership.
Hopefully, someone will leak the tape as well.
Months later, with a great deal of input from independent professionals to the USDOL regarding how the PRO Act and restrictive changes to the IRS rule will impact independent contractors and small businesses, the United States Department of Labor has decided to ignore everything and implement changes in the rule for Independent Contractors, which redefines them as employees.
What did all this input result in?
Nothing at all.
From Reuters:
The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule on Tuesday that would make it more difficult for companies to treat workers as independent contractors, a change that is expected to shake up ride-hailing, delivery and other industries that rely on gig workers.
Gig company stocks were hammered on the news, with Uber (UBER.N), Lyft (LYFT.O) and DoorDash (DASH.N) all falling at least 10%. Groups representing employers quickly criticized the rule.
This is the issue with the coverage of the traditional media is that it's not only all about Uber or Lyft! Large companies like Apple and as small as your local market employ independent contractors. It's been part of the business world for many years and soloprepreneurs and entrepreneurs count on it to create and expand.
What the Labor stooge Marty Walsh and Biden Administration are proposing to do is to ruin the balance of economics in our nation and further damage our economy.
The Biden plan to ruin America's economy goes on and on.
So much for your work, your choice. The government is always inserting itself where they don't belong.
The proposal would require that workers be considered a company’s employees, entitled to more benefits and legal protections than contractors, when they are “economically dependent” on the company. It could have wide-ranging impacts on company profits and hiring, household incomes and worker quality of life.
The Labor Department said it will consider the worker’s “opportunity for profit or loss, investment, permanency, the degree of control by the employer over the worker, (and) whether the work is an integral part of the employer’s business,” among other factors.
The final rule is expected next year.
Most federal and state labor laws, such as those requiring a minimum wage and overtime pay, only apply to a company’s employees. Employees can cost companies up to 30% more than independent contractors, studies suggest.
Millions of Americans are working “gig” jobs and this labor has become vital to some transportation, restaurant, construction, health care and other industries.
Many independent professionals are looking at the possibility of another effort to take away their rights and livelihoods.
However, because the media and Labor are determined to continue pushing the idea of “gig work” and claim “misclassification”—a complex issue that already has laws in place to regulate the issue, Americans are tired about hearing about the issue.
This is serious and should be taken seriously. #WhatTheHellDOL indeed.
