ASTA Writes in Support for Proposed DOL Rule to Clarify Worker Status

The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) has submitted comment supporting the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposal to clarify the definition of an employee or independent contractor (IC). 

The Department of Labor’s proposed rule would unify worker classifications under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. It would negate the 2024 rule classifying ICs under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and instead replace it with analysis from January 7, 2021. 

Signed by ASTA’s senior vice president of industry affairs and General Counsel Peter Lobasso, ASTA’s eight-page letter to the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division explains travel agencies’ significant economic impact and why the IC model is so important to the industry. 

“Independent contractors are essential to the travel advisor profession and to the entrepreneurial model that supports agencies of all sizes,” said ASTA President and CEO Zane Kerby. “ASTA strongly supports efforts to provide clearer, more predictable federal guidance so our members can engage independent advisors with confidence, remain compliant and continue serving travelers across the country.” 

In ASTA’s view, the 2024 rule currently in effect opens travel agencies to potential confusion and liability when choosing whether to hire ICs or employees. The new classifications would give travel agencies, 97% of which are small businesses, “a clearer roadmap for making worker classification decisions,” Lobasso writes in the filing. 

Because most travel agencies are small businesses, they lack outside legal counsel that would aid them with such discrepancies. This heightens the likelihood for misclassification, ASTA argues. The filing also requested more clarity in the rule surrounding the worker’s control over the work and the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss. 

The organization has been advocating for travel advisors on this issue with support of the Modern Worker Empowerment Act on Capitol Hill during its annual Legislative Day the past two years since the new rule went into place. It is largely seen as a partisan issue, with not a single Democrat signing on the bill.