Anne Sekel Discusses Labor Department’s Upcoming Worker Classification Rule

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Anne Sekel is quoted in the Reuters article, “Legal Experts Weigh-in on Labor Department’s Upcoming Worker Classification Rule,” offering insight on the final version of the worker classification rule set to be released in October by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

Sekel explained that the DOL “is shifting back sort of to the pre-2021 framework where you’re again going to be permitted to look at a lot of different factors” to determine whether an individual is an employee or independent contractor.

She advised employers to assess the worker classification factors “prospectively, every time [employers are] looking to engage the services of someone,” to avoid ending up in a defensive position.

“When you have a hiring or retention need, if you’re sitting down and you’re saying – I’m either going to hire someone or I’m going to engage the services of someone – have the list of factors that will be considered in front of you and then you’re writing the job description in an accurate and truthful manner with those factors in mind and you’ll get, I think, to the right answer,” Sekel said.

“When you can err on the side of classifying someone as an employee, you should do that,” she added.