Regulatory Freeze for All Pending Regulations; Independent Contractor Rule Faces Delay

This post was updated on Feb. 4

The Biden administration has implemented a regulatory freeze for all pending regulations. Of note to the housing community, this action means that the U.S. Department of Labor's final independent contractor rule that was put forth in the waning days of the Trump administration, and scheduled to go into effect on March 8, will be delayed at least until May 7.

The Department of Labor has pushed back the effective implementation date of the independent contractor rule from March 8 to May 7 to allow the agency “additional opportunity for review and consideration of the new rule.”

NAHB believes the final independent contractor rule represents a positive step forward that would provide more clarity for employers to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The regulatory freeze includes any rules before the Office of Management and Budget and those already ready for publication in the Federal Register. All pending regulations will need to be reviewed and approved by a Biden administration official before they can move forward.

Federal agencies and departments are also asked to consider postponing for 60 days the effect dates of any rules that have already been published but have not yet taken effect “for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy the rules may raise.”

NAHB is monitoring the situation closely and will urge the Biden administration to allow the independent contractor rule to go forward as written following agency review of the policy. For more information, contact Alexis Moch or David Jaffe.