Dismantling Obama-Era Business Regs

[Rogers Smith]

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!