Biden Axes Trump Gig-Worker Rule, Favoring ‘Employee’ Model (4)

The Biden administration canceled a signature Trump-era rule that would’ve eased businesses’ ability to legally consider workers as independent contractors, a rollback the U.S. Labor Department said was necessary to broadly extend wage protections while cracking down on employer abuses.

A final rule, issued Wednesday, rescinded the regulation that would’ve helped preserve the workforce model of gig-economy companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Instacart. The Biden agency hasn’t replaced it with a new interpretation of when workers can function as independent contractors, but the administration’s top wage regulator made clear the DOL will be targeting companies for failing ...