Lawmaker Praises Portable-Benefits Model for Gig Workers
Monday, October 16, 2017 | 0
In an opinion piece published Friday on Fortune magazine’s website, a Washington state senator praised plans to create a portable-benefits model for gig-economy workers and said she plans to introduce legislation requiring gig-economy companies to help pay for benefits.
Companies would be required to contribute 25% of the fee charged to consumers, or $6 per hour, to an independent benefits administrator, which would provide benefits such as health care, workers’ compensation and retirement to gig-economy workers.
“The benefits would make a meaningful difference to gig workers without overburdening fast-growing companies with benefits administration,” Rep. Monica Stonier, D-Vancouver, wrote in the piece.
She said a bill introduced by Rep. Derek Stanford, D-Shoreline, this year to create a portable-benefits model “represents a bold vision for the future of work and has received diverse support.”
She said the bill received support from “worker advocates, including SEIU 775 President David Rolf; Amazon founder and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer; experts from left-leaning think tanks; a free-market advocate; and academics studying the future of work” at a hearing last spring.
HB 2109, introduced in February, is currently in the House Committee on Labor and the Workplace.
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