Biden’s Budget Takes on Worker Misclassification, Safety (3)

President Joe Biden used his inaugural budget request to signal his administration’s commitment to extending employment protections to broad swaths of workers who’ve been classified as independent contractors.

The budget plan the administration released Friday called for the U.S. Labor Department to receive $7.5 billion in the coming fiscal year to boost worker-protection efforts, including to root out misclassification.

“The Administration is also committed to ending the abusive practice of misclassifying employees as independent contractors, which deprives these workers of critical protections and benefits,” the blueprint said.

Biden’s emphasis on worker misclassification could have implications throughout the economy—including in the ...