Gig-Worker Rule’s Comment Window Won’t Be Extended, DOL Says

The Labor Department has declined to extend a shortened, 30-day window for the public to weigh in on its high-stakes proposal to redefine independent-contractor status, denying Democratic lawmakers’ bid for more time.

“The Department has determined that 30 days is a sufficient period of time to comment,” Joe Wheeler, head of DOL’s congressional affairs office, wrote in a letter emailed Monday to Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee.

The department has faced a chorus of requests from Democrats in both chambers, blue-state attorneys general, and a prominent worker-rights’ group to extend the Oct. 26 deadline. The proposed regulation, released Sept. 22, would make it easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees who are owed minimum wage and overtime protections.

DOL leadership previously stated it intends to fast-track the rule to completion by year’s end—an accelerated rulemaking schedule that would help protect it from reversal if Democratic Nominee Joe Biden is elected president.

Federal agencies traditionally provide the public with at least 60 days to submit comments on proposed rules; the feedback is then analyzed to inform a final rule. That’s particularly the case for economically significant rules, such as the independent-contractor proposal, which are defined as having a projected impact on the economy of at least $100 million.

DOL throughout the Trump administration has opted for longer comment periods, and Democrats and others have said that 60 days is needed because the contractor proposal would have far-reaching consequences for companies and workers in the gig economy and in multiple other sectors.

Fast-Track Questioned

Democrats have accused DOL of shortening the comment period because of fears that Trump will lose the election. The contractor rule, while favored by the business community, clashes with the crackdown on independent contractor misclassification that the Biden campaign proposed in its labor agenda.

Some attorneys contend a 30-day period opens a path for a lawsuit alleging a final rule has violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the agency didn’t adequately consider public input as required.

DOL offered a different explanation for why it feels a sense of urgency to conclude the comment period.

“Without regulatory guidance, workers and businesses must attempt to locate fact-specific court decisions or subregulatory guidance and attempt to determine whether the facts of those work arrangements are sufficiently comparable to their own,” Wheeler wrote. “The lack of regulatory guidance underscores the need for an expedient rulemaking.”

Public comments may be submitted on regulations.gov through Monday, Oct. 26, at 11:59 p.m. More than 140 comments have been posted online to date. Most business and worker advocacy groups tend to file comments in the final days before a deadline.