National Labor Group Calls for Equal Benefits for W2 and 1099 Workers

The National Employment Law Project asserts that policymakers should make portable benefits required for all companies.

In the face of rampant employee misclassification, one labor group – The National Employment Law Project – recommends that, instead of confusing things with another class of employees, policymakers extend common employee benefits to 1099 contractors. This could remove much of the perceived financial benefit of operating a domestic referral service rather than a maid service.

“Congress should require companies in the on-demand economy using 1099 workers to pay into workers’ Social Security accounts, which are inherently portable, just as companies hiring workers as employees do,” they said in the report. 

Portable benefits include any federal or state income-based account assigned to a specific individual, including

• FICA (Social Security and Medicare)
• Unemployment

Such an extension might also include newer federally-assigned employee benefits such as paid sick leave for workers assigned to federal contracts.

Source: TheHill.com