Chair Cassidy Outlines Proposals to Empower Independent Workers, Ensure Access to Portable Benefits

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released proposals to empower independent workers to access portable workplace benefits like retirement and health care.  

“Labor and employment laws designed for a different time no longer address the needs of today’s independent workers. Such laws were intended to provide workers clarity, certainty and security—not to make them out of reach,” wrote Dr. Cassidy. 

“Modernizing labor and employment laws will allow independent workers to receive benefits without disrupting the traditional employment model, fulfilling the promise of American labor and employment law,” continued Dr. Cassidy. “I look forward to working with interested stakeholders and my HELP Committee colleagues to explore ways to ensure our laws serve all American workers.” 

At least 27 million Americans engage in independent work, including truck drivers, construction workers, and direct sellers. The vast majority of independent workers prefer alternative work arrangements to traditional employment, and 80 percent of these workers would like access to portable workplace benefits. Yet decades-old federal labor and employment laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, prevent independent workers from accessing common workplace benefits.  

Last year, Cassidy requested information from stakeholders on ways Congress can clarify and modernize federal law to increase workers’ access to portable benefits. In this white paper, Cassidy is proposing to: 

• Establish a safe harbor for companies, so they can offer portable benefits to independent workers without the fear of misclassification lawsuits.  
• Give workers clarity and consistency by instituting a single employment test under federal law.  
• Increase health care coverage options for independent workers. This includes clarifying existing law to allow independent workers to access affordable, high-quality health care coverage through association health plans.  
• Empower independent workers to participate in retirement plans, like pooled employer plans and single employee pension IRAs, that are already available under federal law. Only 20 percent of independent workers participate in a defined contribution retirement plan due to lack of access. 

Read the full white paper here. 

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