H.R. 1319: Modern Worker Empowerment Act
Sponsor
Kevin Kiley
Republican · CA-3
Bill Progress
Latest Action · Feb 20, 2026
Placed on House floor schedule, Calendar No. 431.
Deadlines and insurance couldn't prove you're an employee
Why it matters
Four common job rules — deadlines, insurance, stricter safety standards, and legal compliance — couldn't be used to argue you're an employee under H.R. 1319. The bill writes one federal contractor test into both wage law and labor law, applying to every classification decision the day it becomes law.
H.R. 1319, the Modern Worker Empowerment Act, writes a single federal definition of independent contractor into the country's main wage law and its main labor law.
Under the new test, you're a contractor if the hiring company doesn't have significant control over the day-to-day details of how you do the work, and if you have entrepreneurial upside — room to use managerial skill, business acumen, or professional judgment. Control over the final result of the work doesn't count.
The bill also blocks four common job requirements from being used as evidence that you're really an employee: complying with legal or regulatory requirements, following stricter health and safety standards, carrying insurance, and meeting contract performance terms like deadlines. Most gig platforms and contract-heavy industries require at least one of those things.
The same test would govern federal union law, so one rule would decide both wage-and-hour disputes and questions about who gets federal organizing protections. And it would apply to any classification decision made on or after the day the bill becomes law — not just to new contracts.
H.R. 1319 Bill Summary
What H.R. 1319 actually does.
One federal contractor test for wages and union rights
The bill writes the same employee-versus-contractor test into the Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets minimum wage and overtime rules, and into the National Labor Relations Act, which sets federal union-organizing rules.
Entrepreneurial upside required to qualify as a contractor
Under the new test, you'd need to have entrepreneurial opportunities and risks — the discretion to use managerial skill, business acumen, or professional judgment — on top of working without significant day-to-day control from the hiring company.
Four job rules can't be used to call you an employee
The bill bars four factors from being used to argue someone is an employee: complying with legal or regulatory requirements, complying with stricter health and safety standards, carrying insurance of any kind, and meeting contract performance terms like deadlines.
Control over the final result doesn't matter
The test focuses on whether the hiring company controls the details of how the work is performed. The bill explicitly says control over the final result of the work doesn't count toward employee status.
Effective immediately on enactment
The new rule applies to any classification decision made on or after the day the bill becomes law. It would govern existing contractor relationships, not just new ones.
Who benefits from H.R. 1319?
Companies built around contractor labor
Gig platforms, freelance marketplaces, and contract-heavy industries get one clear federal contractor test, plus four common job rules they can require without those rules being used to flip workers into employee status.
Workers who want to stay independent
Freelancers and self-employed workers who prefer contractor status would have an easier path to keeping it if their work fits the new control-plus-entrepreneurship test.
Businesses fighting on two fronts
Companies dealing with both wage-and-hour disputes and union-organizing questions would no longer have to apply two different federal classification tests to the same workers.
Who is affected by H.R. 1319?
Workers near the employee-contractor line
If your classification gets disputed after enactment, the new test decides whether you count as an employee under federal wage and labor law.
Workers who might qualify for overtime or minimum wage
Some workers who could be classified as employees under today's federal tests may fall on the contractor side under H.R. 1319, which would put them outside federal minimum wage and overtime rules.
Workers organizing for union recognition
Because the same test governs federal labor law, classification under H.R. 1319 would also decide who counts as an employee for federal organizing and collective-bargaining protections.
Federal regulators, courts, and employers
Agencies, judges, and companies would all have to apply the new standard immediately on enactment, including the bar on the four factors.
What Congress Is Saying
H.R. 1319 has come up 12 times in the Congressional Record so far.
H.R. 1319 also appeared in 1 more Senate floor reference and 7 routine cosponsor filings.
HR1319 Legislative Journey
House: Committee Action
Feb 20, 2026
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Workforce. H. Rept. 119-505.
House: Vote: 19-16
Jul 23, 2025
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 19 - 16.
House: Committee Action
Feb 13, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
About the Sponsor
Kevin Kiley
Republican, California's 3rd congressional district · 3 years in Congress
View full profile →
Cosponsors (23)
All 23 cosponsors are Republicans. Cosponsors represent 15 states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, and 12 more.
John Rutherford
Republican · FL
John Moolenaar
Republican · MI
Mark Messmer
Republican · IN
Andrew Ogles
Republican · TN
Thomas Kean
Republican · NJ
Glenn Grothman
Republican · WI
Elise Stefanik
Republican · NY
Eric Burlison
Republican · MO
Rick Allen
Republican · GA
Burgess Owens
Republican · UT
Robert Onder
Republican · MO
Michael Baumgartner
Republican · WA
Committee Sponsors
Education and Workforce Committee
10 of 36 committee members cosponsored
10 Republicans across this committee haven't cosponsored yet. Mobilize their constituents
H.R. 1319 Quick Facts
- Committee
- Education and Workforce
- Chamber
- House
- Policy
- Labor and Employment
- Introduced
- Feb 13, 2025
Placed on House floor schedule, Calendar No. 431.
Feb 20, 2026
Official Sources
Official congressional page for the Modern Worker Empowerment Act, including status, text, actions, and sponsors.
The bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act, the main federal wage-and-hour law tied to minimum wage and overtime protections.
The bill also amends the National Labor Relations Act, which governs federal private-sector organizing and collective-bargaining rights.
This is the specific Fair Labor Standards Act section the bill amends to add a new employee-versus-independent-contractor test.
This is the National Labor Relations Act definitions section the bill amends to apply the same contractor test in labor-law cases.
Official NLRB page explaining the agency that administers the federal labor law affected by the bill's amendment to employee status under the NLRA.
Who is lobbying on H.R. 1319?
8 organizations lobbying on this bill
Lobbying around HR1319 is being driven less by a single industry than by a dense coalition of trade and labor-aligned interests, led by the Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association with 10 filings, followed by Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh with 6, and Americans for Prosperity with 5. The signal is that this fight sits at the crossroads of workplace rules, tax policy, and appropriations—terrain where construction and contractor groups see direct exposure, while ideological advocates and even companies far outside labor, from pharma to food delivery, are tracking the bill for its broader economic ripple effects.
BUCHANAN INGERSOLL & ROONEY PC ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH | 6 |
CENCORA, INC. (FORMERLY AMERISOURCEBERGEN CORPORATION) | 4 |
CROSSROADS STRATEGIES, LLC ON BEHALF OF TRUCKERS INTEGRAL TO OUR ECONOMY (TIE) | 4 |
SIGNATORY WALL AND CEILING CONTRACTORS ALLIANCE | 3 |
SIFF & ASSOCIATES, PLLC (OBO THE MECHANICAL CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) | 3 |
GENWORTH FINANCIAL, INC. | 3 |
AMERICAN PIPELINE CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION | 1 |
POWER & COMMUNICATION CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION | 1 |
Showing 1-8 of 8 organizations
H.R. 1319 Common Questions
Is H.R. 1319 law yet?
No. H.R. 1319 cleared the House Education and Workforce Committee on a 19-16 party-line vote and is sitting on the Union Calendar, but it has not had a House floor vote.
What would H.R. 1319 actually change?
It writes a new federal test for deciding whether you're an employee or an independent contractor into both federal wage law and federal union law — affecting overtime, minimum wage, and organizing rights.
What's the new contractor test?
You'd count as a contractor if the hiring company doesn't significantly control how you do the work, and if you have entrepreneurial upside — room to use managerial skill, business acumen, or professional judgment.
Can a company require insurance or deadlines and I'm still a contractor?
Yes. The bill blocks four job rules from being used to call you an employee: legal compliance, stricter safety standards, insurance requirements, and contract performance terms like deadlines.
Would H.R. 1319 cut my overtime or minimum wage protections?
It could. If the new test classifies you as a contractor, you wouldn't qualify for federal overtime and minimum wage rules, which only cover employees.
Does H.R. 1319 affect union rights?
Yes. The same contractor test applies to federal labor law, so worker classification could decide whether you have federal organizing and collective-bargaining protections.
Who's behind H.R. 1319?
Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) introduced it with 23 Republican cosponsors. It passed the House Education and Workforce Committee 19-16 on a party-line vote. No Democrats have signed on.
When would H.R. 1319 take effect?
Immediately on enactment. The bill applies to any employee-versus-contractor decision made on or after the day it's signed into law — not just to new contracts.
Based on H.R. 1319 bill text
H.R. 1319 Bill Text
“To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the National Labor Relations Act to clarify the standard for determining whether an individual is an employee, and for other purposes.”
Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office
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