Continuing its walk-back on policy views established during the Obama era, the Department of Labor (DOL) has withdrawn the Wage and Hour Division's Administrator's Interpretation covering joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA).   Released in 2016, the Administrator's Interpretation broadly defined the employment relationship and provided insight into horizontal and vertical joint employment in the current economy of businesses sharing employees or using third-party management companies, independent contractors, staffing agencies, or other labor providers to staff their operations.

 

The DOL has also withdrawn an Administrator's Interpretation that clarified the agency's views on independent contractor misclassification under the FLSA.  Published in 2015, the document emphasized that the FLSA's definition of "employ" should be broadly interpreted to focus on the "economic realities" surrounding an individual's relationship with an organization to determine whether he or she has been properly classified as an independent contractor.

 

In withdrawing the Administrator's Interpretations, the Department of Labor explained that doing so does not impact employers' responsibilities under the FLSA and MSPA.  That said, retraction of these guidance documents suggests that the agency may limit the resources deployed to investigate compliance issues related to joint employment and independent contractor classification under FLSA and MSPA.