Lyft, Uber, and other app-based gig companies are pushing federal lawmakers to allow gig workers to access certain benefits while preserving their contractor status. The coalition has already succeeded in achieving similar legislation on the state level in Washington, among other jurisdictions. The push comes as the current administration continues to try to make it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors.
Flex, a trade association representing app-based rideshare and delivery companies such as Uber and Lyft, has released proposed principles for federal legislation to provide portable benefits for gig workers. The principles contemplate a national, preemptive framework that allows gig workers to select the benefits they want as well as make such benefits portable among all qualifying platforms. Under the framework, gig workers would preserve their independent contractor status “guided by a national test governing their classification.”
Platform companies have already achieved similar success at the state level. Campaigns in California and Washington produced similar legal compromises that afford gig workers benefits while preserving their contractor classification. While there may not be a similar appetite at the federal level, a national standard could provide much needed consistency in this area of law for multistate employers.
HR Policy Association has previously advocated for allowing gig workers to access certain benefits such as health care and unemployment insurance, both in our comments to the DOL regarding their proposed independent contractor rule, and in our Workplace 2020 report.
Outlook: The lobbying push by Flex comes as the Department of Labor looks to finalize a rule that would significantly restrict independent contractor status – and with gig companies representing an explicit target of the rule. The NLRB narrowed the scope of contractor status under federal labor law in a ruling issued last month. It remains to be seen whether Flex’s approach achieves the same success at the federal level as it has in the states, particularly given the current administration’s stance on employee status.
