Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Chair of the powerful Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, published a white paper that calls for allowing contractors more access to employment benefits, including a safe harbor long supported by HR Policy Association.
A safe harbor for employers, benefits for contractors: The white paper calls for Congress to consider establishing a legal safe harbor for employers that would allow them to offer benefits to contractors generally reserved for employees – such as paid sick leave, training, and healthcare – without having to re-classify the contractors as employees under the law.
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The paper cites new state laws and pilot programs in Utah, Tennessee, California, Pennsylvania, and Georgia that enable employers to provide contractors benefits as proof of the concept.
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Chair Cassidy seeks to avoid “the fear of potentially ruinous misclassification lawsuits” and to “help spur state and private sector innovation that supports workers.”
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The white paper cites federal restrictions on worker classification as “the biggest impediment” to these kinds of innovations at the state level.
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As a doctor, Chair Cassidy particularly emphasizes the importance of providing contractors with access to healthcare.
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HR Policy Association has advocated for this type of legal safe harbor for nearly a decade.
Growing momentum for changes to classification laws: Chair Cassidy’s white paper arrives on the heels of Rep. Kevin Kiley’s (R-CA) introduction of a bill earlier this year that would similarly empower employers to provide benefits to contractors.
The bottom line: Any substantial employment law reforms such as these are longshots, particularly in the current political environment. Nevertheless, clear support in both the House and the Senate – including the Senate’s top workplace policy official – indicates that we may see at least some movement on these proposals this Congress.
