TalentWave Blog Rapid Reaction: Biden's workforce policy taking shape - TalentWave

During the campaign season, President-Elect Biden pledged to fight for the working class, support unionization and to be tough on businesses that fail to legally and properly make accurate classifications of the Independent Contractors (ICs) - i.e., commit worker misclassification. This includes businesses that intentionally try to get around the laws and companies that, for one reason or another, aren't vetting their ICs or are undervetting them (see our recent blog). On January 7, 2021, Biden named Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as his Secretary of Labor. If all goes to plan, Walsh would replace Trump-appointee Eugene Scalia. Walsh is a union member, and will certainly bring a pro-employee agenda with him to Capitol Hill. What does this mean for the IC-space? As we said in our recent blog on the DOL's new test, DOL rules often change with administrations. Expect similar activity going forward and get re-familiarized with Obama-era rulemaking.