Independent contractors notched a win as the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) this month announced the withdrawal of the “Independent Contractor Rule.” The rule, which was issued two weeks before the change in presidential administrations, would have made it easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors and would have provided employers more security from challenges by contract workers for minimum wages and overtime pay. In withdrawing the rule, DoL said workers would have lost Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protections. And while the number of independent contractors rose during the pandemic, a recent story from the Rockefeller Institute of Government sheds light on how little is known about the real number of gig workers.
