As half of a U.S. Department of Labor public forum on employee classification guidelines, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association served as a voice for truck drivers.
The Department of Labor held the second of two public boards on Wednesday, June 29. The boards are supposed to assist the division set up definitions of “employee” and “independent contractor” beneath the Fair Labor Standards Act.
OOIDA believes any employee classification legal guidelines ought to be nuanced, noting that many of its greater than 150,000 members function as true unbiased contractors beneath lease agreements.
“There are federal regulations that dictate specific requirements for these leases, and they were put in place to protect owner-operators from abusive practices by carriers,” mentioned Bryce Mongeon, OOIDA’s director of legislative affairs. “Tens of hundreds of truckers presently function as true unbiased contractors by means of lease agreements.
“It is absolutely necessary that any classification rule preserves the right of these truckers to continue utilizing this business model.”
OOIDA opposes the ABC Test, which goals to assist employees misclassified as unbiased contractors but additionally would make it tough for true unbiased contractors to stay in that capability.
The Labor Department printed a remaining rule relating to employee classification in January 2021, however the brand new administration determined to withdraw the rule in May 2021. This previous March, a U.S. district court docket invalidated the choice to withdraw, that means the January 2021 rule stays in impact.
Mongeon mentioned the January 2021 rule is a transfer in the fitting course.
“While it is difficult for any rule to account for every situation or completely clarify the classification issue, we believe the rule finalized in 2021 will provide some new level of certainty for truckers,” he mentioned. “We also believe the final rule offers a classification test that appropriately works within the existing criteria used for FLSA classification.”
If adjustments are made, OOIDA mentioned the main target ought to be on predatory lease-purchase preparations.
“We request that the department does not repeal the 2021 rule, but if it is looking to make changes, there are opportunities to improve the rule to address misclassification in trucking,” Mongeon mentioned. “Specifically, it should start with clear-cut cases, such as lease-purchase or lease-to-own agreements.”
In these offers, Mongeon mentioned the service has all of the ability and that drivers work for the service whereas paying for all of the bills of the truck.
“Under these schemes, drivers are paid pennies on the dollar, will likely never own the truck, and have zero independence,” he mentioned. “We think the department could make meaningful progress on misclassification if it focused on clearly identifiable cases and closely considers the nuances of trucking.”
Worker classification has been a sizzling matter in recent times because the gig business has grown and tales about port truck drivers taking house as little as 67 cents in every week have emerged.
But whereas some have used these examples to push for extra stringent classification legal guidelines, many freelance writers and owner-operator truck drivers have requested to not be categorised as an worker.
The Jan. 29 public forum included feedback from dozens of freelance writers against any new employee classification guidelines that might alter their present working association.
“Nothing would ever convince me to take a regular W-2 again,” mentioned Diane Byrne, a contract journalist. “I’m on pace to earn 20% more this year. No corporation gives you that kind of raise.”
Meanwhile, employees for such rideshare apps as Uber and Lyft, mentioned they had been misclassified.
“I have a boss, and the boss is the algorithm,” mentioned Nicole Moore, a rideshare driver.
She mentioned she had been a real unbiased contractor previously and that her present job wasn’t as an unbiased contractor.
“We are suffering from misclassification,” she mentioned.
The Department of Labor introduced earlier this month that it plans to start out a rulemaking relating to employee classification.
AB5
Although circuitously associated to the U.S. Department of Labor’s efforts towards a employee classification rule, there was a current improvement in employment legal guidelines and the trucking business.
One day after the general public forum, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the California Trucking Association’s petition for the state’s Assembly Bill 5.
AB5, which codified the ABC Test within the state, will now be enforced on motor carriers.
The California Trucking Association contends that AB5 violates the structure and will power the tip of the trucking business’s owner-operator mannequin. LL