DeLauro, Brown Question DOL Secretary on Contingent Work “Opinion Letter”

WASHINGTON, DC (May 14, 2019) – Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs today wrote a letter to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta about the Wage and Hour Division's (WHD) controversial "opinion letter" on contingent work. The letter follows the Trump Administration's rescission of guidance regarding the potential misclassification of workers as independent contractors.

"The unnamed company recipient of the letter has been told that its workforce is made up of contractors, not employees," said the Members. "Such a decision has significant repercussions as to whether it offers the federal minimum wage or overtime; or pay a share of Social Security taxes to its workforce. These crucial issues determine the basic standard of living for millions of working people. Given the magnitude of the issues at hand, it is unfortunate that the department has chosen to set policy in such an important area through the device of an opinion letter. In our view, this is an unsettled and contentious statutory and regulatory area that requires a more thoughtful and prudent approach."

"The biggest economic challenge facing workers is that they are in jobs that do not pay them enough to live on—and the rise of alternative work arrangements has only exacerbated this issue," continued the Members. "The Department of Labor must remain a bulwark for workers in the face of those who would try to skirt our nation's labor laws."

A signed copy of the letter can be found here.

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