West
These new government contracting rules will put parents, caregivers, seniors out of work
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Studying how government regulations affect women’s employment is a priority of the organization that I run, Independent Women’s Forum. Now, rather than reviewing data and economic reports, we have become a case study of how ill-advised policies hurt women.
We are working with human resources consultants and lawyers to address this topic from an unfortunate angle: How many women will we have to let go when the new Department of Labor independent contracting rule takes effect?
Guidance from the Society of Human Research Management encapsulates the challenge: “The most basic question about the employment relationship is whether a worker is, in fact, an employee or an independent contractor. As with so many employment law issues, the answer is “it depends.”
The new Department of Labor regulations are meant to reduce the number of contractor relationships and push more people into working as traditional employees. (Getty)
It depends not only on the particulars of the work relationship, but on which government entity is asking the question, since “even courts have admitted that the distinction is not always clear.”
BIDEN ADMIN’S GIG WORKER RULE FACING GROWING PUSHBACK
The legal distinctions aren’t clear, but what is clear is that the new Department of Labor regulations are meant to reduce the number of contractor relationships and push more people into working as traditional employees.
With an estimated 25% to 35% of workers involved in some way in the “gig economy,” this means that this new law will have an enormous impact on all of us – as workers, employers and consumers.
The new Department of Labor regulations require employers to consider six factors to determine who can be a contractor: the employer’s level of control over how the work is done; the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss; the level of skill required; how long the relationship will last; the worker’s investment in equipment or materials; and how integral the work is to the employer’s core business.
The legal guidance is to err on the side of caution, which means that contracting should be allowed only if the employee meets every test and requirement. What does this all mean in practice for an employer like me?
BIDEN ADMIN SPREADING CALIFORNIA’S WAR ON GIG WORKERS TO REST OF COUNTRY
Currently, Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) engages more than 20 independent contractors. Some are policy experts who cover issues for us with occasional writing; others help with fundraising and accounting services; and others are high-impact consultants who help us implement major new projects.
Who can I keep and who must I let go? Like most other nonprofits, IWF cannot afford to offer every current contractor a full-time position. In fact, we will have to let most go if that is our only choice.
Yet more importantly, most of our contractors do not want a full-time job with us, or with any other employer. Sadly, this is a factor that the Department of Labor doesn’t seem interested in at all.
Most independent contractors value their independence and ability to control their schedules. They don’t want to depend on one employer, but would rather have a variety of relationships so they never risk being unemployed.
CONGRESS GEARS UP FOR BIPARTISAN CHALLENGE TO BIDEN LABOR POLICY
Many independent contractors we have engaged quit full-time positions to become caregivers. They sought opportunities like what we offer to stay engaged in their fields, have an intellectual outlet, and enjoy camaraderie with colleagues, while contributing to the family finances.
They don’t want the pressure of short-term deadlines and in-person meetings; they don’t want to have to track time and explain about sick kids or field trips.
Can we continue to offer these work relationships? Maybe, although the guidance that contractors cannot “perform similar work of employees” makes it fraught.
Certainly it seems prudent for us now to offer contractors only short-term contracts. I’m advised to not “issue business cards;” “pay expense;” offer “continued education training;” or even, “invite or permit contractors to attend company parties or special events intended for employees.”
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That’s a real loss of collaboration, productivity, and expansion of our influence. It also seems simply mean when so many workers, especially those balancing caregiving and careers, crave the community and validation of an association.
Businesses across the country are reviewing their own contracts just like we are. They are talking to lawyers who will invariably urge caution, which means eliminating work opportunities for contractors.
We saw the results when California adopted strict rules (AB5) for contracting in 2019. According to a study by the Mercatus Institute, self-employment fell by 10.5% in affected occupations, and overall employment in those sectors fell by 4.4%.
Why is the Department of Labor making it so hard for employers to offer truly flexible working opportunities? Why do they ignore how many people – not just parents of young kids, but also caregivers to the elderly, those approaching retirement, the disabled, people with health issues, and students – want nontraditional work opportunities and will drop out of the workforce rather than be forced into traditional employment?
Like so many of the other questions generated by these onerous new rules, these don’t have good answers.
CARRIE LUKAS
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Oregon
2026 NFL combine: Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq runs fastest 40 by tight end since at least 2003
INDIANAPOLIS — Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq ran the fastest 40-yard dash of any tight end at the NFL Scouting Combine since at least 2003, posting a blazing time of 4.39 seconds on Friday.
Sadiq’s official time bested the previous mark of 4.40 seconds, set by Vernon Davis in 2006 and tied by Dorin Dickerson in 2010.
The 6-foot-3 1/8, 241-pound Sadiq was expected to be a standout during the workout portion of the event, and he started the night with a broad jump of 11-1. It was the highest mark of the 2026 combine among tight ends before Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers topped it a few minutes later with a jump of 11-3.
Sadiq shined in the vertical leap, too, jumping 43 1/2 inches, only to be outdone by Stowers shortly thereafter after he posted a jump of 45 1/2 inches, the best mark by a TE since at least 2003.
Utah
Utahns first or eroding the Utah way? House OKs measure cracking down on illegal immigration
SALT LAKE CITY — A controversial Utah proposal to crack down on the presence of immigrants in the country illegally that had seemed stalled gained new life Friday, passing muster in new form in a relatively narrow vote.
In a 39-33 vote, the Utah House approved HB386 — amended with portions of HB88, which stalled in the House on Monday — and the revamped measure now goes to the Utah Senate for consideration.
The reworked version of HB386, originally meant just to repeal outdated immigration legislation, now also contains provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to tap into in-state university tuition, certain home loan programs and certain professional licensing.
The new HB386 isn’t as far-reaching as HB88, which also would have prohibited immigrants in the country illegally from being able to access certain public benefits like food at food pantries, immunizations for communicable diseases and emergency housing.
Moreover, Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton and the HB88 sponsor, stressed that the new provisions in HB386 wouldn’t impact immigrants in the country legally. He touted HB88 as a means of making sure taxpayer money isn’t funneled to programming that immigrants in the country illegally can tap.
Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, the HB386 sponsor, sounded a similar message, referencing, with chagrin, the provision allowing certain students in the country illegally to access lower in-state tuition rates at Utah’s public universities. Because of such provisions “we’re taking care of other countries’ children first, and I want to take care of Utahns first. In my campaign I ran and said Utahns first and this bill will put Utahns first,” she said.
If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us.
–Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful
The relatively narrow 39-33 vote, atypical in the GOP-dominated Utah Legislature, followed several other narrow, hotly contested procedural votes to formally amend HB386. Foes, including both Democrats and Republicans, took particular umbrage with provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to pay in-state tuition and access certain scholarships.
As is, students in the country illegally who have attended high school for at least three years in Utah and meet other guidelines may pay lower in-state tuition, but if they have to pay out-of-state tuition instead, they could no longer afford to go to college.
“If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us,” said Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful.
Rep. Hoang Nguyen, D-Salt Lake City, noted her own hardscrabble upbringing as an immigrant from Vietnam and said the changes outlined in the reworked version of HB386 run counter to what she believes Utah stands for.
“I fear that what we’re doing here in Utah is we are eroding what truly makes Utah special, the Utah way. We are starting to adopt policies that are regressive and don’t take care of people. Utahns are one thing. Citizens are one thing. People is the first thing,” she said.
Rep. John Arthur, D-Cottonwood Heights, said the measure sends a negative message to the immigrant students impacted.
“If we pass this bill today, colleagues, we will be telling these young people — again, who have graduated from our high schools, these kids who have gone to at least three years of school here — that you’re no longer a Utahn,” he said.
If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways.
–Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland
Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, said the debate underscores a “fallacy” about compassion. She backed the reworked version of HB386, saying Utah resources should be first spend on those in the country legally.
“If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways,” she said.
The original version of HB386 calls for repeal of immigration laws on the books that are outdated because other triggering requirements have not been met or they run counter to federal law.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Washington
Man charged with shooting co-worker in Washington Heights
A 26-year-old man had an argument with a co-worker before allegedly fatally shooting the colleague in Washington Heights, prosecutors said Friday.
Bobby Martin, who was charged with first-degree murder Thursday, made his first appearance Friday in Cook County court.
Martin, is accused of killing his co-worker, Antoine Alexander, 32, in a parking lot at 9411 S Ashland Ave about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Chicago police.
Prosecutors said Martin and Alexander worked together at an armed security company and got into a verbal altercation inside the guard shack on Tuesday afternoon. During the altercation, prosecutors said Alexander removed his bullet proof vest and threw it to the ground. A witness, another co-worker, then told the defendant and the victim to take the altercation outside.
After stepping outside, the defendant pulled his firearm and fired one shot into the victims abdomen, prosecutors said. The victim’s firearm was holstered at the time of the argument and the shooting. The defendant fled the scene and came into contact with another co-worker, whom he told that he had just shot Alexander.
Alexander was then taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead.
Martin was arrested by authorities three blocks from his home approximately 20 minutes after the shooting, prosecutors said.
Martin was detained and will appear in court again on March 17, authorities said.
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