An updated version of the existing Employee Rights Act is meant to protect independent contractors, franchisees, entrepreneurs and anyone seeking flexible work options.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced the Employee Rights Act of 2022 on Tuesday, saying that it would give workers and small business owners “stability and flexibility.” Scott’s office told the McKnight’s Business Daily that this iteration of the Employee Rights Act is “simply a reintroduction of the old one from when Senator Scott was in the House of Representatives” with some of the language tweaked.
The bill, if passed, according to Sen.Mitt Romney (R-UT), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, “will cut red tape and make it easier for all workers to climb the economic ladder.”
Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives. He said that it “protects employees’ privacy, membership dues and the union election process from being abused by union bosses” and that it also “provides all employees, independent contractors and new gig economy workers the necessary protections so they can focus solely on their jobs.” Allen is the ranking member of the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on the House Education and Labor Committee.
More than 60 pro-worker, pro-business groups have endorsed the act.
In addition to Romney, the act is co-sponsored in the Senate by Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), Mike Braun (R-IN), John Boozman (R-AR), Richard Burr (R-NC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY.), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Jim Risch (R-ID), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
