Norton Announces Bill Protecting Independent Contractors Before Labor Day Weekend

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Before Labor Day weekend, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced she will introduce her Protecting Independent Contractors from Discrimination Act of 2019, which would extend to independent contractors the same federal antidiscrimination protections enjoyed by employees.

In her introductory statement, Norton said: "Independent contractors, who often do the same work as employees, have almost none of the same protections, including health insurance, collective bargaining, retirement security and even antidiscrimination. My bill focuses only on discrimination, such as discrimination based on race, age and gender, from which every worker is entitled to be free."

Norton's full introductory statement is below.

Today, I introduce the Protecting Independent Contractors from Discrimination Act, which would extend to independent contractors the same federal antidiscrimination protections enjoyed by employees. My bill would extend the following antidiscrimination statutes, which apply to employees, to independent contractors: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008.

In a Bureau of Labor Statistics 2005 analysis of the American workforce, approximately seven percent were considered independent contractors. That number has surely only grown in the 13 years since that analysis with the growth of the so-called "gig economy." Independent contractors, who often do the same work as employees, have almost none of the same protections, including health insurance, collective bargaining, retirement security and even antidiscrimination. My bill focuses only on discrimination, such as discrimination based on race, age and gender, from which every worker is entitled to be free.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.