The Labor Department is accelerating a plan to propose and finalize this year a worker classification regulation defining when workers are independent contractors or employees under federal wage law.
The timeframe for such a significant rule—only six months for the proposal, public comment period, and final publication—would be far more compressed than the typical regulatory process. But that’s the mission of senior DOL officials who are making the independent contractor issue a top priority, said five current and former administration sources and others briefed on the plans.
The administration wants to wrap up the rulemaking in the final months of ...