Why Lyft is settling with the NJ Department of Labor for $19.4 million

Lyft will pay the New Jersey Labor Department more than $19.4 million to settle allegations from a state audit that found that the rideshare giant misclassified more than 100,000 workers as freelancers rather than regular employees, labor officials announced.

The Sept. 18 announcement came as state officials are exploring ways to overhaul the state’s independent contractor rules so that more freelancers would be considered regular employees.

Under that proposal, truckers, as well as Uber and Lyft drivers, and DoorDash and GrubHub drivers, could be considered regular company employees rather than gig workers.

“Misclassification imposes a financial toll on both good actor employers and misclassified workers, who lose critical rights such as minimum wage, overtime pay, workers’ compensat