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 ...