… Major U.S. business groups on Tuesday filed the latest lawsuit challenging a Biden administration rule that would make it more difficult for companies to treat some workers as independent contractors rather than employees.

The groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the country's largest business lobby, said in a complaint filed in federal court in Beaumont, Texas, that the U.S. Department of Labor rule violated federal wage law by adopting too broad a definition of who counts as a company's employee.

Employees are entitled to the minimum wage, overtime pay and other legal protections not afforded to contractors, and studies suggest that they can cost companies up to 30% more than contract workers.

The rule, which takes effect March 11, is expected to have a broad impact on an array of industries including app-based services that rely heavily on "gig" workers to contain costs. At least four other challenges to the rule are pending, including lawsuits by freelance writers, trade groups and a trucking company that treats driver as independent contractors.

The new lawsuit also claims that the Labor Department violated a federal law governing rulemaking by agencies by failing to justify its reversal of a Trump administration rule favored by trade groups….