We are reposting and sharing this vital information from Economic Policy Institute and National Employment Law Project. American workers’ wage and overtime rights are at risk, and we encourage workers to share their comments with the Department of Labor.
The Trump administration is attempting to make it even easier for employers to classify employees as independent contractors, cheating workers out of wages and benefits. Instead of protecting workers, the Department of Labor is doing the bidding of corporations.
Workers including construction workers, janitors, home care workers, and those deemed “essential workers” during the COVID-19 pandemic, who clean homes, care for children and elderly individuals, and deliver groceries must not be left to earn subminimum wages and work more than 40 hours per week without getting any overtime pay.
The Trump administration has introduced a proposed rule change that would make it even easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors, cheating their workers of minimum wage and overtime protections.
This proposed rule change would give employers and corporations far more leeway in classifying their workers as independent contractors—allowing them to pay subminimum wages, hire child labor, and avoid overtime pay.
Together, we must stop the Trump administration from undermining the labor protections that have taken generations to build.
This proposed rule, which ignores the clear language of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and decades of court rulings (including by the U.S. Supreme Court)—would hurt the very workers who have been organizing on the frontlines for better wages and more protections, including construction workers, janitors, home care workers, and those deemed “essential workers” during the COVID-19 pandemic, who clean homes, care for children and elderly individuals, and deliver groceries.
These workers must not be left to earn subminimum wages and work more than 40 hours per week without getting any overtime pay.
Submit an official comment to the Department of Labor to fight on behalf of working people throughout our country for better pay and economic security. This DOL proposal sets the stage for a race to the bottom that could end with sweatshop conditions for many workers throughout our country.
If your employer considers you a contractor, please indicate that in your comment and provide any appropriate details such as your job and what city or state you work in.
Submit your comment by Sunday, October 25th, the comment period deadline.
