(a) Relevance of independent contractor or employee status under the Act. The Act's minimum wage, overtime pay, and recordkeeping obligations apply only to workers who are covered employees. Workers who are independent contractors are not covered by these protections. Labeling employees as “independent contractors” does not make these protections inapplicable. A determination of whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Act focuses on the economic realities of the worker's relationship with the worker's potential employer and whether the worker is either economically dependent on the potential employer for work or in business for themself.

(b) Economic dependence as the ultimate inquiry. An “employee” under the Act is an individual whom an employer suffers, permits, or otherwise employs to work. 29 U.S.C. 203(e)(1), (g). “Employer” is defined to “include[ ] any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.” 29 U.S.C. 203(d). The Act's definitions are meant to encompass as employees all workers who, as a matter of economic reality, are economically dependent on an employer for work. A worker is an independent contractor, as distinguished from an “employee” under the Act, if the worker is, as a matter of economic reality, in business for themself. Economic dependence does not focus on the amount of income the worker earns, or whether the worker has other sources of income.