Posts tagged independent contractors
Trucking industry reacts to Trump administration move to protect independent contractors
September 5, 2025 // According to the ATA, for more than 90 years, independent contractors have played a vital role in trucking, providing flexibility for drivers and capacity for the supply chain. More than 350,000 professional truck drivers choose to run their own businesses, set their own hours, and chart their own routes.
Georgia sets the national standard for pro-worker leadership
September 2, 2025 // Rep. Rick Allen, from Georgia’s 12th congressional district, recently re-introduced the Employee Rights Act—the single most important pro-worker in America today. The Employee Rights Act is full of reforms that would protect and strengthen workers’ rights. Building on Georgia’s state policy, it would require the secret ballot for all unionization elections in America—no more card check. It would also protect workers’ privacy by letting them determine what personal information unions can access. And in the 26 states like Georgia with right-to-work laws, the Employee Rights Act would let workers who opt out of union membership negotiate their own contracts—something they’re currently banned from doing.
Empowering Flexible Work in Alabama: Shipt to Launch First Portable Benefits Program In Our Home State
August 20, 2025 // Now, eligible Alabama shoppers earning with Shipt can qualify to receive contributions from Shipt equivalent to 4% of their pre-tip earnings. They can then use these tax-deductible contributions to purchase benefits that matter most to them, without jeopardizing their ability to earn on their own terms.3 “We hear it from shoppers and drivers all the time: nothing beats a flexible work schedule,” said Mindy Reher, vice president of experiential operations at Shipt. “As a people-centric company, we take pride in finding innovative solutions to offer workers on our platform greater access, choice, and security in how they work. Alabama shoppers can now further build toward their financial goals without compromising on the flexibility they get from earning on the Shipt platform.”
The Importance of Protecting Portable Benefits
August 19, 2025 // The modern gig economy employs about 75 million workers. The provision of benefits is, of course, a positive for these freelance workers – so if businesses wish to provide them, they should be able to do so without fear of misclassification lawsuits. In short, Congress should consider these bills as a positive for both the millions of gig workers and the businesses that wish to provide them competitive benefits packages.
GOP senator, labor secretary visit Louisiana alligator farm touting new pro-worker legislation
August 16, 2025 // Fresh off helping pass that bill, Cassidy is championing his pro-worker legislation, the Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers Act, introduced last month with senators Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. The bill seeks to modernize federal labor laws, granting gig workers and independent contractors access to health benefits, paid sick leave and retirement plans, among other provisions.
Portable Benefits Are (Finally) Having a Moment
July 31, 2025 // I’ve been fortunate to contribute to this conversation from the beginning — by publishing research and policy guides that examine outdated assumptions about work and benefits. I’ve shared these findings with Sen. Cassidy’s and Rep. Kiley’s team, as well as with every congressional or state lawmaker who showed interest — and have testified more than a dozen times before Congress and in state legislative hearings.
Opinion: Democrats Attack Gig-Worker Benefits
July 23, 2025 // In a committee hearing on the bill last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders sidestepped the issue of worker benefits to address his party’s real concern—giving unions more power over individual workers. “These bills are about giving corporations the freedom to deny workers the right to form a union,” he said. Independent contractors can’t unionize under the National Labor Relations Act, so unions and the Democrats they support want to outlaw contract work, or at least deprive it of benefits that could attract workers. Democrats on the committee were united in opposition. This political opposition has deterred several gig companies from offering benefits. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has pledged more than $650 million a year to fund health insurance and paid time off if lawmakers would withdraw the threat of reclassifying the company’s drivers.
The Roadmap To Modernizing Federal Labor Laws: Matt Kittle, F. Vincent Vernuccio
July 20, 2025 // That's one of the main things that we want to see at I4AW. Is workers having a choice in a voice, having. The ability to say who they want to be represented by, how they want their money spent, and how they want to work. And I know we talked about it briefly with the ERA, but the ability for an independent contractor to work for themselves, not be considered an employee, small business owner, to own a franchise, all those things are core to what the flexibility and the entrepreneurship of the modern worker, and those are the concepts that are embraced, you know, not just on the union end of the Employee Rights Act, but on the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit and pro worker end of the ERA.
Op-ed: She looked like a pro-worker Trump cabinet appointee. But now she’s gutting the Labor Department
July 17, 2025 // The standards on the chopping block include those issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a unit of the Labor Department, that were developed after years of effort. OSHA standards, Reindel told me, take an average of seven years — and as long as 20 years — to draft. “This is an onslaught on people’s basic protections at work.”
Gig Drivers Unionize Without Employee Status Under State Plans
July 17, 2025 // Unlike in California, Lyft and Uber remained publicly neutral on the Massachusetts ballot measure and Uber recently vowed to do the same in Illinois. For the companies, the bargaining schemes have the benefit of keeping drivers classified as independent contractors. “As we’ve said for years, we’re willing to work with state legislators on benefit and protection legislation that prioritizes preserving drivers’ independence and flexibility,” said Uber spokesperson Josh Gold.