Dismantling Obama-Era Business Regs
Trump strikes again! According to the National Home Builder Association, the Department of Labor is walking away from their previous efforts to try and classify subcontractors as employees:
"In a victory for NAHB members and the small business community, Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta on June 7 announced the withdrawal of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2015 and 2016 informal guidance on independent contractors and joint employment — two Obama-era documents that expanded the tests for what constitutes a joint employer and an independent contractor, respectively."
This is a huge victory for builders, and in fact vast swaths of small businesses. By classifying subs as employees, labor costs increase by an estimated +30%. Such costs can kill bottom lines, not to mention retard economic growth.
Further, if the DOL was ultimately successful in such contractor/employee misclassifications, it would open up a brand new avenue for unionization into the residential construction industry. Rarely is unionization a good thing for industry, competitiveness, and the economy as a whole.
Nice work NHBA!