The federal wage and hour regulatory landscape in 2021 was marked by a push to undo Trump-era rules and assert a worker-friendly agenda with rules on tipped wages and a pay hike for federal contract workers, all of which has prompted compliance whiplash, attorneys said. This "political seesaw" is a natural result of an administration transition, but the ramifications of these changes to the contours of employment relationships are all the more important as the nature of work continues to evolve, said Wage and Hour Practice Co-Chair Damien DeLaney.
"The reason these issues are important and the reason these issues are being tussled over is because these relationships are becoming, I think, increasingly prevalent in the current economy," DeLaney said.