04-21-2026IMPACT COUNCIL

The DOL is rewriting the rules of independent work

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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a new rule that could reshape how independent workers are classified in the United States. After nearly two decades of legal battles, policy swings, and political fights, the agency is once again attempting to clarify one of the most contested questions in modern labor law: Who gets to work independently, and under what rules?

For me, this debate isn’t theoretical. I have been living inside it for nearly 20 years. Today, as the chief legal officer for a platform dedicated to connecting independent healthcare workers with open shifts, I have seen our legal system struggle to truly take care of the exact workers it says it is trying to protect. The reality is that how Americans work has changed, but our legal structure has failed to keep up.

The traditional work structure was built for a different workforce in a different era—and it was never designed for everyone. Independent work opened the door for millions who had been left outside, and the technology that began to emerge 20 years ago only accelerated it.

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