DOL Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2015-1: Most Workers Are Employees Under FLSA

Today, Pillsbury attorneys Julia Judish and Erica Turcios published their client alert titled Department of Labor Says Most Workers Are Employees Under FLSA: Ultimate Test is Economic Dependence. The Alert discusses the recent Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2015-1.  The Administrator’s Interpretation adopts a very expansive interpretation of the definition of “employees” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  Many workers currently treated as independent contractors will need to be reclassified as employees. The Administrator’s Interpretation identifies the issue of a worker’s economic dependence as the most important factor in distinguishing between employees and independent contractors. It puts employers on notice that “the FLSA covers workers of an employer even if the employer does not exercise the requisite control over the workers, assuming the workers are economically dependent on the employer.”