Paul DeCamp, Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, was quoted in Law360 Employment Authority in “Al Impact Could Turn Independent Contractors into Employees,” by Irene Spezzamonte. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
The influence of AI could lead to independent contractors being considered employees under the DOL's new proposed rule, which looks to revive a test whose factors include an emphasis on employers' control over the work, attorneys said.
Some AI systems' capability to assign workers' tasks, come up with schedules and evaluate workers' performance could contribute to evaluations of the nature and degree of control purported employers usually exercise on those workers who are often considered employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act, they said.
That influence could lead to independent contractors being considered employees, they said, as the U.S. Department of Labor's proposed rule aims to revive a test that at its core features two key factors: the nature and degree of control over the work and a worker's opportunity for profit and loss based on initiative or investment. ...
If an independent contractor decides to use an AI tool that helps with assigning tasks or organizing logistics, that worker could remain an independent contractor, said DeCamp, who is a member of management-side firm Epstein Becker Green.
However, DeCamp said that if a business is using an AI tool to plan individuals' work, a worker could lose some of the decision-making and planning typical of independent contractors.
"If the AI is, in a sense, planning and controlling how the worker provides the services and directing that, well, that looks a whole lot like control," DeCamp said.
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