Overview
- The Department of Labor published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in late February 2026, opening a 60‑day public comment period that closes April 28, 2026.
- The proposal would rescind the 2024 six‑factor, totality‑of‑the‑circumstances rule and reinstate an economic‑reality approach anchored by two core factors, supplemented by three lesser guideposts.
- The draft rule instructs that actual working practices outweigh contractual labels and offers illustrative examples to show how the factors apply in common scenarios.
- The analysis would be applied uniformly across the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
- Enforcement of the 2024 rule has been paused since May 2025 and lawsuits are stayed, but stricter state tests such as the ABC standard still apply, legal exposure for misclassification remains, and timing to a final rule is uncertain.