Public Comments on RIN 1235-AA43 – Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair

SMACNA supports the Proposed IC Rule because it will provide greater clarity and consistency through the codification of the longstanding six-factor economic reality test. While returning to the long-standing “totality-of-the-circumstances analysis” is an important step, SMACNA believes that the construction industry needs stronger protections against worker status fraud. Specifically, SMACNA believes that the DOL should develop rules specific to the construction industry to prevent unscrupulous contractors from deliberately misclassifying workers to gain an unfair advantage over law-abiding contractors that pay workers middle-class wages and benefits. Not only does this lead to general disrespect for the law, but also it creates perverse incentives for businesses facing vigorous competition to cheat in order to meet the artificially low prices of their dishonest counterparts.