Chair of Education and the Workforce Committee Open to Updating FLSA to Address Gig Economy

Employment Law

House Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) indicated this week she is open to adjusting the Fair Labor Standards Act, a major workplace statute passed in 1938, to better accommodate those in the gig economy.  "This outdated regulatory structure is complicated enough for most American workers and employers," said Rep. Foxx.  "But for those in the sharing economy, it simply doesn't make sense... The self-employed individuals who rely on the sharing economy for work don't fit neatly into obsolete job categories defined in another era."  The comments come a week after the release of the Association's Workplace 2020 report, Making the Workplace Work, which outlines ways in which workplace legislation designed in another era can be updated in order to allow employers to both meet workers' preferences and ensure a competitive American economy.