Biden’s Independent Contractor Rule Quietly Takes Effect, Replaces Trump-Era Standards

The U.S. Department of Labor’s new independent contractor rule went into effect Monday, despite court challenges brought by businesses finding the rule makes it more difficult for them to determine whether someone is an employee or an independent contractor. The new rule marks an almost three-year endeavor by the Biden administration to overturn a Trump-era rule, which established a straightforward “economic reality” test for businesses to distinguish an independent contractor from an employee. The test, hailed by employers for its simplicity when it came out in the final days of President Donald Trump’s first term, mostly concerned just two factors: the worker’s degree of control over his or her work and the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss....