Misclassification of Employees as Independent Contractors Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will hold a public forum to hear diverse perspectives from those who may be affected by an employee or independent contractor classification. The goal is to establish “employee” and “independent contractor” definitions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Sounds familiar, somehow? Yes, you may recall the major problems AB5 had created for translators in California in 2020.

Essentially, the goal of this type of legislation is a good one, namely, to protect workers in the gig economy who work under bad conditions; however, AB5 had a significant effect on translators and interpreters residing in California and working with Californian language service agencies. Following AB5, the agencies were trying to protect themselves because back then, the hiring company had the burden of proof for classifying individuals as independent contractors. So, what did the companies do? They just outsourced the work to other states. Then came AB 2257, and new jobs were added to the list of what counts as professional services. This included translators and interpreters. However, it took almost a year of petitioning and protesting and did a lot of damage to the livelihood of people working in the language service industry in California.

The Department now plans to engage in rulemaking on determining employee or independent contractor status under the FLSA. The department wants to ensure that employees are recognized correctly when they are, in fact, employees so that they receive the protections the FLSA provides. At the same time, the Department recognizes the important role legitimate independent contractors play in the U.S. economy. So, they need to hear from workers and employers as they develop their proposal. The Department will hold public forums on June 24 (for employers) and on June 29 (for workers) to hear diverse perspectives from those who may be affected by the employee or independent contractor classification.

The public forum via video conference will allow participants to speak for two minutes to provide their input on this matter. If it is your calling to speak for us translators and interpreters, please visit this link for more information and to register.