The current administration has embraced a new federal rule compelling businesses to reassess independent contractors as employees, a decision met with concern from the trucking industry, seeing it as a constraint on how numerous truck drivers earn their livelihoods.
“The trucking industry has used independent contractors since the inception of interstate trucking, and court decisions over the last 90 years have continually reaffirmed the legitimate role ICs play in the economy,” said American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear. “It’s unfortunate that the administration has chosen to replace a clear and straightforward standard with a tangled mess that weakens our supply chain and undermines the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of truckers across the country.”
Scheduled to be effective from March 11, the Labor Department’s rule instructs employers to evaluate six criteria to determine a worker’s classification without favoring one over the others.
Employers must weigh whether the tasks performed by these workers are integral to the employer’s business. However, this rule does not carry the same legislative weight as laws enacted by Congress or state legislatures. It also refrains from specifying any particular company or industry required to reclassify workers, presenting an interpretation of qualifications for protections under the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act.
The criteria encompass the level of control exerted by the employer, the need for special skills in the work, the enduring nature of the worker-employer relationship, and the financial investment made by the worker, including considerations like car payments.
“I can think of nothing more un-American than for the government to extinguish the freedom of individuals to choose work arrangements that suit their needs and fulfill their ambitions,” Spear said. “More than 350,000 truckers choose to work as independent contractors because of the economic opportunity it creates and the flexibility it provides, enabling them to run their own business and choose their own hours and routes. That freedom of choice has been an enormous source of empowerment for women, minorities and immigrants pursuing the American dream.”
Stakeholders across the industry are set to work on reversing this rule.
“ATA will work with members of Congress and other stakeholders to defeat this ill-advised rule,” Spear said.
Source: Transport Topics
