Scratch that: DOL withdraws joint employer and classification guidance letters

On Wednesday, June 7, 2017, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced the withdrawal of two Obama-era Administrator’s Interpretations regarding the standards for determining joint employment and classification of employees as independent contractors. 

The DOL has already removed the Administrator’s Interpretations from its website. We previously explained the respective Administrator’s Interpretations in these blog posts: Joint Employment and Misclassification. 

What does this mean for employers?

Despite the withdrawal of the Administrator’s Interpretations, the DOL strongly emphasized that employers must still abide by the Fair Labor Standards Act and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. Although the broad view of the “employment relationship” presented in the Administrator’s Interpretations has disappeared, the case law and regulations that govern these two topics are alive and well. As such, employers should continue to carefully review the joint employment and independent contractor tests under existing laws when evaluating these relationships.