House Democrats told reporters on a conference call Monday they want to reclassify the nature of independent contractors when the next coronavirus economic relief package is negotiated.
“We intend to expand the scope of this legislation to require OSHA to protect other at-risk workers, including TSA workers, direct care workers, first responders, pharmacists, grocery store workers, and other workers at essential establishments that remain open,” Bobby Scott, chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, said.
“We’re concerned that self-employed workers, including the so-called gig economy workers who are frequently misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees, are excluded from coverage of OSHA and have few legal protections from unsafe working conditions. These workers are keeping our communities going right now. They also need to be protected,” said Scott, who represents a southern Virginia district.
Democrats previously included unemployment benefits to gig workers in the phase 3 $2.2 trillion emergency funding package enacted last Friday. The measure aided independent contractors who work for rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft.
“I called for special protections for our gig workers and independent contractors,” Sen. Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in a statement. “Now they will have a new unemployment insurance program to provide benefits.”
California enacted its own gig economy law early this year, Assembly Bill 5, or the “gig worker bill,” which mandated companies that hire independent contractors must reclassify them as employees.
Created to regulate companies that hire gig workers in vast numbers such as Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, companies in California must now use a three-pronged standard to prove workers are independent contractors and not employees.
However, a backlash against AB5 has ensued since its passage, as the law’s confusing language regarding who should be considered an employee has led to layoffs and contract job cancellations of freelance journalists, performing artists, and production workers in the TV and movie industries.
