The Rights for Part-Time Workers
The idea of a steady, full-time job with health benefits and vacation may not exist in the near future. More companies are reclassifying workers as "independent contractors," but some employees feel this reclassification is incorrect. On one hand the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization, a labor organization, believes companies abuse the term "IC." On the other hand, companies do not violate existing law and feel independent contractors give them more flexibility with their workforce.
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Governing Par- Time Labor
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The Fair Labor Standards Act, enforced by the Department of Labor, covers most of the important laws that companies abide by when dealing with employees. This law declares the federal minimum wage and and prevents the exploit of child labor. The Department of Labor also generally handles employee complaints and disputes.
What Is Part Time?
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The Fair Labor Standards Acts makes no distinction between part-time workers and full-time workers, effectively leaving this up to businesses to self-regulate what constitutes full-time employment. The FSLA only declares that companies must pay time and a half for anyone working more than 40 hours, but this usually excludes seasonal and temporary workers.
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Federal Workers
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Part-time federal workers enjoy more rights than their civilian counterparts. The McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon and Related Acts requires companies that receive federal contracts and grants pay at least the prevailing wage of the area and associated benefits. The two acts also cover federal service employees.
"Independent Contractors"
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The AFL-CIO claims many businesses avoid paying minimum wage and benefits by calling employees independent contractors. Federal employment laws clash with some claims by the AFL-CIO because employment laws are meant to cover employees and do not explicitly cover an "IC." The law does not acknowledge an in-between point, forcing an either/or for classification to persist. Businesses may declare someone an "IC" on paper, but according to employeeissues.com, companies still treat them as if they were an employee, all without violating the FSLA. According to employeeissues.com, companies say they are just trying to classify employees properly because federal law uses a formula to figure out the status of a potential employee.
Solution
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In 2009, President Barack Obama introduced legislation protecting independent-contractor rights. An independent contractor bill could protect part-time worker rights and assuage employers by preventing retroactive lawsuits against companies that mistakenly classify workers. According to Department of Labor statistics, misrepresentation of employee status costs the U.S. more than $4 billion per year in lost revenue.
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