High Country Times

Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) has issued a subpoena to Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Julie Su. The subpoena seeks information on the Biden-Harris administration’s actions regarding independent contractors.

The administration has argued that "worker misclassification" is widespread and detrimental to workers, but it has not provided the Committee with supporting data. The subpoena follows months of efforts to obtain evidence from DOL about its justification for changing the implementation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This change was formalized in a rule titled “Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the [FLSA],” which took effect in March.

In her cover letter accompanying the subpoena, Foxx stated: “The Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) is continuing to conduct oversight and seek information about the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to eliminate the independent contractor model and classify as many workers as possible as employees—a shift that would drastically increase the federal government’s control over the American workforce.”

The subpoena requests detailed information including:

- The total number of instances of misclassification found by DOL inspectors, along with details on occupations involved.

- The total number of misclassification enforcement investigations initiated, including industry specifics.

- The total number of such investigations where DOL collaborated with both the National Labor Relations Board and the Federal Trade Commission.

Read more about this development in full detail here.

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