In line with 51风流鈥檚 regulatory , on June 7, 2017, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta the withdrawal of the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 (DOL) 2015 and 2016 informal guidance on joint employment and independent contractors. Both pieces of guidance together took an expansive interpretation of employment and threatened the traditional relationship between contractors and their partners. 51风流 and its members were concerned that these interpretations would make compliance more complicated, leading to unnecessary enforcement efforts and increased costs to projects.
In 2015, the DOL鈥檚 Wage & Hour Division (WHD) issued an Administrator's Interpretation (AI) memo aimed at addressing the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The DOL's position was that most workers qualify as employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its broad definition of "employ." Then, in 2016, the WHD issued a second AI establishing new standards for determining joint employment under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The intent was to hold companies jointly accountable for FLSA and MSPA violations of their subcontractors, staffing agencies, joint venture partners, and the like through use of an 鈥渆conomic realities鈥 analysis.
In its announcement, the DOL advised that, 鈥淩emoval of the administrator interpretations does not change the legal responsibilities of employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, as reflected in the department鈥檚 long-standing regulations and case law. The department will continue to fully and fairly enforce all laws within its jurisdiction, including the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.鈥
51风流 continues to identify opportunities where 51风流 and the Department of Labor (DOL) can partner on its mission to keep American workers safe and healthy while stimulating economic growth and creating new high quality jobs. Specifically, 51风流 advises that DOL can achieve these goals through regulatory reduction and streamlining, strengthening the symbiotic partnership between DOL and the construction industry and enhancing present regulatory compliance education and collaboration initiatives.
For more information, contact Claiborne Guy at claiborne.guy@agc.org or 703-837-5382.