[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 206 (Wednesday, October 26, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 64749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23314]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Wage and Hour Division

29 CFR Parts 780, 788, and 795

RIN 1235-AA43


Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair 
Labor Standards Act; Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: This document extends the deadline for submitting written 
comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Employee or 
Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards 
Act, to December 13, 2022. The U.S. Department of Labor (Department) is 
taking this action to provide interested parties additional time to 
submit comments.

DATES: The comment period for the NPRM that previously published on 
October 13, 2022, see 87 FR 62218, has been extended. The Department 
must now receive comments on or before December 13, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Regulatory 
Information Number (RIN) 1235-AA43, by either of the following methods:
     Electronic Comments: Submit comments through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Address written submissions to Division of 
Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division, 
U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20210.
    Instructions: Please submit your comment by only one method. Of the 
two methods, the Department strongly recommends that commenters submit 
their comments electronically via https://www.regulations.gov to ensure 
timely receipt prior to the close of the comment period, as the 
Department continues to experience delays in the receipt of mail. All 
comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on December 13, 2022, for 
consideration in this rulemaking; comments received after the comment 
period closes will not be considered.
    Commenters submitting file attachments on https://www.regulations.gov are advised that uploading text-recognized 
documents--i.e., documents in a native file format or documents which 
have undergone optical character recognition (OCR)--enable staff at the 
Department to more easily search and retrieve specific content included 
in your comment for consideration. This recommendation applies 
particularly to mass comment submissions, when a single sponsoring 
individual or organization submits multiple comments on behalf of 
members or other affiliated third parties. The Wage and Hour Division 
(WHD) posts such comments as a group under a single document ID number 
on https://www.regulations.gov.
    Anyone who submits a comment (including duplicate comments) should 
understand and expect that the comment will become a matter of public 
record and will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. 
Accordingly, the Department requests that no business proprietary 
information, copyrighted information, or personally identifiable 
information be submitted in response to this NPRM.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments, go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy DeBisschop, Division of 
Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division 
(WHD), U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-0406 (this is not a 
toll-free number). Alternative formats are available upon request by 
calling 1-866-487-9243. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a 
speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay 
services.
    Questions of interpretation and/or enforcement of the agency's 
regulations may be directed to the nearest WHD district office. Locate 
the nearest office by calling WHD's toll-free help line at (866) 4US-
WAGE ((866) 487-9243) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. in your local time 
zone, or logging onto WHD's website for a nationwide listing of WHD 
district and area offices at http://www.dol.gov/whd/america2.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Electronic Access and Filing Comments

    Public Participation: The NPRM is available through the Federal 
Register and the http://www.regulations.gov website. You may also 
access the NPRM through the Department's website at http://www.dol.gov/federalregister. To comment electronically on federal rulemakings, go 
to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, which 
will allow you to find, review, and submit comments on federal 
documents that are published in the Federal Register and open for 
comment. Please identify all comments submitted in electronic form by 
the RIN 1235-AA43. Because of delays in receiving mail in the 
Washington, DC area, in order to ensure timely receipt prior to the 
close of the comment period, commenters should transmit their comments 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov or submit them by mail early. Please submit your 
comment by only one method.

II. Request for Comment

    On October 11, 2022, the Department announced an NPRM intended to 
help businesses and workers determine whether a worker is an employee 
or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 
The Department published the NPRM in the Federal Register on October 
13, 2022 (87 FR 62218), which instructed interested parties to submit 
comments on or before November 28, 2022, providing 46 days for 
comments.
    Following publication of the NPRM, the Department received requests 
to extend the NPRM's comment period. After consideration of the 
extension requests, the Department has decided to extend the period for 
submitting public comment for 15 additional days (i.e., until December 
13, 2022), lengthening the comment period to 61 days total.
    The Department takes seriously its obligation to consider any 
``written data, views, or arguments'' submitted by commenters and looks 
forward to reviewing all feedback received on the NPRM before the close 
of the comment period. See 5 U.S.C. 553(c). The Department encourages 
all interested parties to submit comments electronically on 
www.regulations.gov (RIN 1235-AA43) by 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, 
December 13, 2022.

Martin J. Walsh,
Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022-23314 Filed 10-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-P