Every few years, the federal test for who counts as an independent contractor changes hands, and every time it does, freelancers hear the headline without the fine print. The current round started in February 2026, and the fine print matters more than usual: nothing has actually changed yet.

What the DOL proposed

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on February 27, 2026, defining “independent contractor” status under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. The proposal would rescind the 2024 rule issued under the Biden administration and restore the independent-contractor test the DOL used in its 2021 rule.

The comment period closed, but the rule itself has not 60 day public comment period on the DOL'sproposed rule closed April 28, 2026,but the rule itself is not yet final

The public comment period on the proposal closed April 28, 2026. As of this writing, the rule remains proposed, not finalized, and the 2024 rule stays the operative federal standard for DOL enforcement in the meantime.

The actual difference between the two tests

Core factors given greater legal weight, by DOL rule 00.631.251.882.522021 rule02024 rule22026 proposed rule

The 2024 rule weighs six factors equally under a totality-of-the-circumstances approach. The 2021 rule, and the 2026 proposal that would restore it, treats two factors as more important than the rest. Source: US Department of Labor, Federal Register.

The 2024 rule evaluates six factors, none weighted more heavily than the others: opportunity for profit or loss, investments by the worker and employer, permanence of the relationship, nature and degree of control, whether the work is integral to the business, and skill and initiative. The 2026 proposal would restore the 2021 approach, which treats two factors, the degree of control over the work and the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss, as core factors that carry more weight than the rest.

Why this matters even before it is final

A federal rule change under the FLSA does not automatically change how any individual state classifies workers. California’s ABC test, New Jersey’s own classification framework, and every other state’s independent-contractor standard keep operating on their own terms regardless of what the DOL ultimately finalizes federally. This proposal only touches the federal wage-and-hour standard, one layer among several that can determine your status.

Nothing requires you to change how you invoice, structure contracts, or run your freelance business while this rule sits in proposed form. What is worth doing is watching whether it finalizes, since a shift back toward the two-factor emphasis could change how some platforms and clients evaluate their own contractor relationships once it takes effect, not before.

Keep your own status clear regardless of which test applies

However this rule lands, the practical difference between a contractor and an employee still comes down to acting like one: setting your own rates, controlling how the work gets done, and invoicing for it yourself rather than being paid like payroll. A BillyPaid invoice for every engagement keeps that record clean and dated, which matters under any version of the federal test, the 2021 one, the 2024 one, or whatever the DOL finalizes next.