H.R. 1320: Modern Worker Security Act

Whether you count as an employee decides a lot: minimum wage and overtime, payroll taxes, unemployment coverage, the right to organize. Federal agencies and courts answer that question by weighing how a working relationship actually operates, and benefits a company provides can be one piece of the picture.

H.R. 1320 would require every employee-status decision under federal law to ignore whether the company provides you a benefit. The rule is not limited to one agency or one statute. It would apply wherever federal law asks who is an employee.

The definition of benefit is broad. It covers perks you can take with you when you stop working for a company, the standard full-time package (workers' comp, training, professional development, paid leave, disability coverage, health insurance, retirement savings and short-term savings), and contributions toward any of them — whether paid by the company, by you, or split between you.

Sponsors argue that the threat of reclassification is what keeps companies from offering contractors portable benefits, and removing it would open the door. Worker advocates counter that people fighting misclassification would lose a piece of evidence they can point to today.

The bill does not require anyone to offer a benefit, and it does not change any other factor used to judge employee status. It only removes benefits from the scale.