Employee or Independent Contractor – U.S DOL Announces 2024 Final Rule on How to Classify Staff under FLSA

Misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor can be a legal nightmare. This 90-minute webinar explains the U.S. Department of Labor's 2024 final rule on employee vs independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The rule moved away from a five-factor test that gave extra weight to two core factors, control over the work and the worker's opportunity for profit or loss, and returned to a totality-of-the-circumstances approach. Six factors are weighed together against the economic reality of the work: profit or loss tied to managerial skill, investments by worker and employer, permanence of the relationship, control, whether the work is integral to the business, and skill and initiative.

Some legal experts expect the more employee-friendly standard to bring more misclassification lawsuits, and courts have the final say on classification.

• Explain how the 2024 DOL rule affects employers and independent contractors
• Apply the six-factor economic reality test to worker relationships
• Compare the rule with the earlier core-factor test
• Identify DOL, NLRB and IRS penalties for misclassification
• Use best practices to classify workers and reduce misclassification risk

• How the independent contractor rule affects employers and contractors
• Why defining independent contractor status is confusing
• Employee vs independent contractor case studies
• How the rule differs from the previous rule
• What the proposals included and which create challenges for employers and employee relations professionals
• Penalties for misclassification from the DOL, NLRB and IRS
• Business community opposition to the DOL rule
• Best practices for classifying employees and independent contractors
• The timeline for employers to implement the rule
• How employers can reduce their exposure under the rule

With closer scrutiny and a potentially narrower standard, employers need to review how they structure independent contractor relationships and seek experienced counsel when setting contractor policies.

This session suits employers, business owners, company leaders, compliance and HR professionals, payroll administrators and managers who want to classify workers correctly and limit risk.

• All Employers
• Business Owners
• Company Leadership
• Compliance professionals
• Payroll Administrators
• HR Professionals
• Managers/Supervisors
• Anyone Interested in Being Compliant with Current Regulations

Margie Faulk is a senior level human resources professional with over 15 years of HR management and compliance experience. A current Compliance Advisor for HR Compliance Solutions, LLC, Margie, has worked as an HR Compliance advisor for major corporations and small businesses in the small, large, private, public and Non-profit sectors.  Margie has provided small to large businesses with risk management strategies that protect companies and reduces potential workplace fines and penalties from violation of employment regulations. Margie is bilingual (Spanish) fluent and Bi-cultural.

Margie’s area of expertise includes Criminal Background Screening Policies and auditing, I-9 document correction and storage compliance, Immigration compliance, employee handbook development, policy development, sexual harassment investigations/certified training, SOX regulations, payroll compliance, compliance consulting, monitoring US-based federal, state and local regulations, employee relations issues, internal investigations, HR management, compliance consulting, internal/external audits, and performance management.
Margie is a speaker and accomplished trainer and has created and presented compliance seminars/webinars for over 16 US and International compliance institutes. Margie has testified as a compliance subject matter expert (SME) for several regulatory agencies and against regulatory agencies, thank goodness not on the same day. Margie offers compliance training to HR professionals, business owners, and leadership to ensure compliance with workplace and regulations. 
Margie’s unique training philosophy includes providing free customized tools for all attendees. These tools are customized and have been proven to be part an effective risk management strategy. Some of the customized tools include the I-9 Self Audit. Correction and Storage program, Ban the Box Decision Matrix Policy that Employers can provide in a dispute for allegations, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Compliance Guide, Drug-Free Workplace Volatile Termination E-Book and other compliance program tools when attendees register and attend Margie’s trainings.
Margie holds professional human resources certification (PHR) from the HR Certification Institution (HRCI) and SHRM-CP certification from the Society for Human Resources Management. Margie is a member of the Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics (SCCE).