[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2488 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2488
To promote transparency and accountability in covered digital labor
platform work, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 28, 2025
Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Murphy, and Ms. Baldwin) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote transparency and accountability in covered digital labor
platform work, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Empowering App-Based Workers Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Millions of workers in the United States report to work
by logging on to digital labor platforms: software applications
(commonly known as ``apps'') that allocate and manage work.
(2) Businesses are using digital labor platforms in a wide
and growing range of industries and occupations in the United
States. While the most well-known businesses using digital
labor platforms provide ride-hail and last-mile delivery
services, businesses in a variety of sectors, including large-
and low-paid sectors like retail, hospitality, warehousing, and
food services, increasingly manage labor via digital labor
platforms.
(3) Platformed, or app-based, workers of all ages and every
race, ethnicity, gender, and immigration status can be found in
every State. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, app-
based workers are disproportionately people of color,
comprising approximately 42 percent of the app-based workforce,
compared to 29 percent of the overall workforce. A 2021 Pew
Research poll of United States workers found that women (17
percent) were more likely than men (15 percent) to report that
they had ever done app-based work. The growing workforces of
businesses that use digital labor platforms to manage delivery
workers are majority women. Platform work is growing in
industries like retail, hospitality, warehousing, and food
services, in which people of color are overrepresented.
(4) Government and academic research has found that app-
based workers often receive poverty wages and few to no
benefits and are subject to wage theft and wage and employment
discrimination. A 2024 University of California at Berkeley
study of app-based ride-hail drivers in 5 metropolitan areas
found that a majority of drivers earn net pay that is
significantly less than the applicable minimum wage. Job
quality issues may be related to the frequent misclassification
of app-based workers as independent contractors who lack
employment-based rights and protections. Indeed, both courts
and regulatory agencies have found businesses that use digital
labor platforms to have misclassified employees as independent
contractors, stolen wages, and withheld benefits.
(5) Research also shows that some businesses that use
digital labor platforms may be engaging in discriminatory
pricing practices, charging variable rates for the same
services based on particular characteristics of a consumer, and
setting personalized wages for the same work based on
characteristics of a worker.
(6) Businesses use digital labor platforms to determine
access by an app-based worker to work assignments, the pay for
the assignments, and the prices charged to customers. Such
platforms often use electronic monitoring tools and automated
decision-making systems or algorithms, fed by a variety of
inputs, including data derived from workers and consumers.
(7) The use of electronic monitoring tools and automated
decision-making systems is not exclusive to businesses that use
digital labor platforms. Other kinds of businesses do use them
but the heavy reliance by such businesses on these systems to
interface with workers and consumers is unique.
(8) But while the electronic monitoring tools and automated
decision-making systems of businesses that use digital labor
platforms dictate the experience of workers and consumers on
digital labor platforms, their presence, purpose, and mechanics
are, too often, wholly opaque to workers, consumers, voters,
and policymakers. This opacity creates profound information
asymmetries between these groups and the corporations that own
or operate digital labor platforms.
(9) The lack of information about the electronic monitoring
tools and automated decision-making systems used by businesses
that use digital labor platforms prevents workers, consumers,
and policymakers from understanding whether and to what extent
these systems are generating harms and facilitating the
violation of existing laws and regulations.
(10) Unaccountable pay algorithms can enable various forms
of wage theft, such as minimum wage violations, tip-stealing,
routine undercounting of worktime, and illegal fees and
deductions, as well as discrimination based on protected class.
Forms of employer control obscured by algorithmic management
can enable independent contractor misclassification and create
insurmountable roadblocks to app-based workers' ability to
access minimum wage and overtime pay for all time worked, paid
sick leave, unemployment insurance benefits, workers'
compensation, protections from discrimination, and more.
(11) Reliance on electronic monitoring tools and automated
decision-making systems that hide control and enable
misclassification of employees as independent contractors also
has profound implications for social welfare programs and
competing businesses. Businesses that misclassify employees as
independent contractors neglect to pay their share of employer
contributions for programs such as unemployment insurance and
social security. In total, a misclassifying business can save
up to 30 percent of its payroll costs by mislabeling a worker
as an independent contractor, which disadvantages responsible
employers.
(12) The lack of transparency around pricing algorithms
allows businesses that use digital labor platforms to raise
prices on consumers under the guise of increasing labor and
regulatory costs. Businesses that use digital labor platforms
may use opaque pricing algorithms to determine the amount they
charge to customers for a service, as well as the share of that
fee that those businesses keep for themselves compared to the
share that goes to the app-based workers who provide the
service. The variable and opaque share of the consumer charge
that certain digital labor platform providers keep, versus the
share they pay an app-based workers (the ``take rate'') is
concerning.
(13) The issue of fluctuating, opaque, and predatory take
rates is especially pronounced in the ride-hail industry, a
pioneer in the use of digital labor platforms. Initially, ride-
hail companies paid app-based workers 90 percent of the
consumer charge, decreasing it to 80 percent as they attracted
more workers. Early take rates of 10 to 20 percent were styled
as ``service fees'' that drivers paid to access work through
the digital labor platform. Like commissions, if the ride-hail
companies increased their prices, workers likewise received a
raise.
(14) Ride-hail companies later abandoned their commission-
based service fee, and now set consumer prices independently of
app-based worker pay. Both prices and pay are largely
influenced by unaccountable hidden algorithms and automated
decision systems. They are also influenced by individualized
consumer and worker characteristics that offend notions of
equal pay for equal work and fair dealing.
(15) App-based workers now report ride-hail companies
taking as much as 60 percent of the fare. A PowerSwitch Action
analysis of Uber fares in New York City and Chicago between
2019 and 2023 found that driver pay declined even as fares
charged to consumers increased because Uber's take rate also
increased.
(16) Rising, unpredictable take rates and lower pay have
made ride-hail work an increasingly losing proposition. Workers
who provide what has become a growing and crucial
transportation service are entitled to transparent, consistent,
and fair pay for their work. A 25 percent cap on take rates in
the ride-hail industry will limit the most exploitative
algorithmic practices and help ensure the health and well-being
of more than a million U.S. workers. Since expenses and the
cost of living vary from market to market, the take rate cap in
this Act establishes a floor, not a ceiling, and does not
preempt any state or local efforts to establish take rate
standards that exceed that set forth herein.
(17) Although the ride-hail industry has been an early
adopter of digital labor platform technologies, the public
needs to understand how all businesses that use digital labor
platforms utilize electronic monitoring tools and automated
decision-making systems so they may understand how this
unaccountable technology affects their lives. Without
transparency requirements around their use of electronic
monitoring tools and automated decision-making systems,
businesses that use digital labor platforms can exploit
information asymmetries to make false and unverifiable claims
about the potential impacts of proposed and existing public
policies.
(18) Policymakers outside the United States have taken
steps to ensure that platforms operate with more transparency
and accountability. Multinational corporations like Amazon,
Uber, and DoorDash will soon be subject to various transparency
and reporting requirements in the European Union as countries
come into compliance with the European Union Platform Work
Directive. The United States must not be a global laggard when
it comes to platform regulation; workers, consumers, and the
public will suffer for it.
(19) To ensure that app-based work is not an engine of
poverty and racial inequality that places downward pressure on
job quality across the economy, workers, consumers,
policymakers, and regulators must not be left in the dark about
the surveillance and labor management technologies that
businesses that use digital labor platforms are using.
(20) All workers, businesses, and consumers in the United
States, stand to benefit from the establishment of clear rules
requiring transparency and accountability around the use of
electronic monitoring and automated decision-making systems by
businesses that use digital labor platforms to manage work.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Adverse action.--The term ``adverse action'' means an
action taken by a covered digital labor platform provider with
respect to an app-based worker that a reasonable person would
find negatively impacts the app-based worker's access to or
terms, conditions, or privileges of work, including fewer (by
volume or frequency) or less favorable work assignments or
offers, less or unfavorable hours or shifts, reduced access to
bonuses, incentives, or other benefits, temporary, permanent,
or indefinite suspension, deactivation or termination,
restriction of access to the platform, failure to promote,
failure to pay, and reductions in pay.
(2) Aggregated app-based worker data.--The term
``aggregated app-based worker data'' means data with respect to
multiple app-based workers that is combined or collected
together in a summary or other form that prevents the
identification of any specific app-based worker.
(3) App-based worker.--The term ``app-based worker'', with
respect to a covered digital labor platform provider, means an
individual who performs work or provides services for
remuneration on or through the covered digital labor platform
of the covered digital labor platform provider, regardless of
whether the individual is compensated by the covered digital
labor platform provider or another person.
(4) Applicant.--The term ``applicant'', with respect to a
covered digital labor platform, means an individual who has
signed up for, applied for, activated, or created an account in
order to provide services on or through the covered digital
labor platform of a covered digital labor platform provider as
an app-based worker but has not yet been approved for or
offered work through the covered digital labor platform.
(5) Attribute.--The term ``attribute'' includes, as
applicable, the tenure, demographics, reviews, acceptance rate,
part-time status, average weekly hours, and location of an app-
based worker.
(6) Authorized agent.--The term ``authorized agent'' means
a person (other than a covered digital labor platform provider
or a vendor or affiliated person of the provider) that an app-
based worker has authorized to receive disclosures from a
covered digital labor platform in accordance with section 7,
including a labor organization.
(7) Automated decision system.--
(A) In general.--The term ``automated decision
system'' means any tool, software, system, process,
function, program, method, model, or formula using, or
designed with, computation to issue an automated
decision system output that is used to augment, assist,
or replace human judgment, decision making, or policy
implementation.
(B) Exclusions.--Notwithstanding subparagraph (A),
the term ``automated decision system'' does not include
any spam email filter, firewall, antivirus software,
calculator, database, dataset, or other compilation of
data.
(8) Automated decision system output.--The term ``automated
decision system output'' means any information, data,
assumption, prediction, scoring, classification,
recommendation, decision, or conclusion generated by an
automated decision system.
(9) Commerce; person.--The terms ``commerce'' and
``person'' have the meanings given the terms in section 3 of
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203).
(10) Covered digital labor platform.--
(A) In general.--The term ``covered digital labor
platform'' means a platform provided, offered, or used
by a covered digital labor platform provider that--
(i) is provided, at least in part, through
electronic means such as an online-enabled
application, internet site, or mobile
application;
(ii) provides services performed by an app-
based worker at the request of a consumer;
(iii) involves the facilitation of work to
be performed by an individual in exchange for
payment, regardless of whether such work is
performed online or in a certain geographic
location; and
(iv) involves the use of an automated
decision-making system or electronic monitoring
tool.
(B) Exclusions.--
(i) In general.--Notwithstanding
subparagraph (A), the term ``covered digital
labor platform'' does not include--
(I) any platform that--
(aa) only provides the
means by which service
providers can reach an end-
user, customer, or recipient,
without involvement of the
platform in the terms or
conditions of the work; or
(bb) only organizes the
activities of volunteers; or
(II) any platform that has the
primary purpose of exploiting or
sharing real property assets for short-
term accommodations or that allows an
individual who is not a professional to
resell goods.
(ii) Burden of proof.--A person providing,
offering, or using a platform that the person
believes is a platform described in subclause
(I) or (II) shall have the burden of proof to
establish that the platform is a platform
described in such a subclause for purposes of
any enforcement activity taken under section 9.
(11) Covered digital labor platform provider.--The term
``covered digital labor platform provider''--
(A) means a person engaged in commerce or an
industry affecting commerce that employs an app-based
worker to perform work or provide services for
remuneration on or through the covered digital labor
platform of the person, or that otherwise engages,
arranges, or facilitates the performance of such work
or provision of such services, regardless of whether
the app-based worker is compensated by such person or
another person; and
(B) includes any successor in interest of such
person and any person who acts directly or indirectly
in the interest of the covered digital labor platform
provider in relation to an app-based worker.
(12) Data.--The term ``data'', used with respect to an app-
based worker, means any information that identifies, relates
to, describes, or could reasonably be linked, directly or
indirectly, with a particular app-based worker, regardless of
how the information is collected, inferred, or obtained,
including the following:
(A) Personal identity information and
characteristics, such as the app-based worker's name,
address or other contact information, demographic
information, government-issued identification number,
citizenship and familial status, criminal background,
employment history, financial history, health status or
history, and information regarding immutable
characteristics.
(B) Any data related to the work activities of an
app-based worker.
(C) Online information with respect to the app-
based worker, including any internet protocol address
used by, social media activity of, or other digital
sources or unique identifiers associated with the app-
based worker.
(D) Individual behavior or preferences, including
observable or measurable actions, habits, preferences,
interests, or vulnerabilities, including the
individual's political, personal, or professional
affiliations, web browsing history, purchase history,
financial circumstances, or consumer behaviors.
(E) Biometric information, including imagery of the
iris, retina, fingerprint, face, hand, palm, vein
patterns, and voice recordings, from which an
identifier template, such as a faceprint, a minutiae
template, or a voiceprint, can be extracted, and
keystroke patterns or rhythms, gait patterns or
rhythms, and sleep, health, or exercise data that
contain identifying information.
(F) Inferences drawn from any of the data described
in this paragraph, including internally generated
inferences, or worker profiles generated by inferences,
by or for the covered digital labor platform provider.
(13) Electronic monitoring tool.--The term ``electronic
monitoring tool'' means any system, application, or instrument
that facilitates the collection of data concerning the
activities, communications, actions, biometrics, attributes, or
behaviors of an app-based worker by any means other than direct
observation by another individual, including through the use of
a computer, telephone, wire, radio, camera, electromagnetic,
photoelectronic, or photo-optical system.
(14) Employ.--The term ``employ'' has the meaning given
such term in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
(29 U.S.C. 203).
(15) Labor organization.--The term ``labor organization''
means--
(A) a labor organization, as such term is defined
in section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act (29
U.S.C. 152); or
(B) the collective bargaining representative of a
craft or class of employees for purposes of the Railway
Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).
(16) Individualized.--The term ``individualized'' means
data described in subparagraph (A), (C), (D), (E), or (F) of
paragraph (12) that is--
(A) specific to a specific app-based worker or
group, band, class, or tier of app-based workers; or
(B) inferred about a specific app-based worker or
group, band, class, or tier of app-based workers based
on other such data.
(17) On-demand.--The term ``on-demand'' means a service
available to a waiting, time-sensitive consumer after the
consumer makes a request or places an order for such service
via a covered digital labor platform.
(18) Predispute arbitration agreement.--The term
``predispute arbitration agreement'' means any agreement to
arbitrate a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the
making of the agreement.
(19) Predispute joint-action waiver.--The term ``predispute
joint-action waiver'' means an agreement, including as part of
a predispute arbitration agreement, that would prohibit, or
waive the right of, one of the parties to the agreement to
participate in a joint, class, or collective action in a
judicial, arbitral, administrative, or other forum, concerning
a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the making of
the agreement.
(20) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Labor.
(21) Take rate.--The term ``take rate'', with respect to a
covered digital labor platform provider that offers a consumer
any on-demand transportation services, means the percentage of
the total amount such a covered digital labor platform provider
charges to a consumer for such a service provided on or through
the covered digital labor platform, exclusive of any tip, that
is not paid to an app-based worker as remuneration with respect
to that service.
(22) Time on task.--The term ``time on task'', with respect
to an app-based worker performing on-demand services, means an
amount of time that begins when an app-based worker is assigned
or accepts a work assignment on a covered digital labor
platform for the performance of a service and ends when--
(A) the work assignment is completed; or
(B) the work assignment is cancelled.
(23) Time worked.--The term ``time worked''--
(A) with respect to an app-based worker providing
on-demand services, includes all time that an app-based
worker is logged into a covered digital labor platform
and available to perform services on or through the
covered digital labor platform; and
(B) with respect to an app-based worker who works
shifts or blocks of time that are in any way scheduled
in advance of performing the work, includes all time
from when the app-based worker reports to work through
the completion of assigned tasks or shift work, as
further defined and delimited in regulations by the
Secretary.
(24) Vendor.--The term ``vendor'' means any entity or other
third party engaged by a covered digital labor platform
provider (or by any contractor of the covered digital labor
platform provider) to provide software, technology, or any
related service that is used to collect, store, analyze, or
interpret app-based worker data.
(25) Work assignment.--The term ``work assignment'' means
an assignment or offer on a covered digital labor platform to
provide services for a consumer that is assigned to or accepted
by an app-based worker for the performance of services with
respect to that assignment or offer.
(26) Work-related decision.--The term ``work-related
decision'' means any decision made by a covered digital labor
platform provider with respect to--
(A) hiring, engaging, or promoting an app-based
worker;
(B) taking an adverse action against an app-based
worker; or
(C) the terms, privileges, or conditions of the
work of an app-based worker, including a decision that
affects or could affect the pay, the benefits, other
compensation, the schedule of work, the hours of work,
an evaluation, a performance rating, the job content,
an assignment of work, the access to work, the
productivity requirements, or the workplace health and
safety of the app-based worker.
SEC. 4. TRANSPARENCY.
(a) Disclosures to Workers.--
(1) Notice of electronic monitoring and automated decision
systems.--
(A) In general.--A covered digital labor platform
provider that uses or intends to use an electronic
monitoring tool or automated decision system shall, in
accordance with subparagraph (B), provide to each app-
based worker and applicant of the covered digital labor
platform provider who is, or will be, subject to the
electronic monitoring tool or automated decision system
a notice that provides--
(i) a description of how any electronic
monitoring tool or automated decision system
will be used by the covered digital labor
platform provider;
(ii) a description of the data intended to
be or actually collected by the electronic
monitoring tool or used in an automated
decision system;
(iii) in the case of the use of an
electronic monitoring tool--
(I) a description of any activity,
location, communication, task, or job
role that will be electronically
monitored by the electronic monitoring
tool;
(II) whether, how, and what data
collected using the electronic
monitoring tool will be used as an
input in an automated decision system;
(III) whether, how, and what data
collected using an electronic
monitoring tool will be used (whether
used with or without an automated
decision system) to make, or assist in
making, decisions regarding the
compensation of an app-based worker or
applicant and offers or assignments of
work for the app-based worker or
applicant; and
(IV) a description of where any
data collected by the electronic
monitoring tool will be stored, the
length of time the data will be
retained, who may access the data, and
how the data may be accessed by a
person who is authorized to access the
data;
(iv) in the case of the use of an automated
decision system--
(I) a description of the methods,
processes, inputs, attributes, and data
that the covered digital labor platform
provider uses or intends to use,
through the automated decision system,
to determine or assist in determining
the compensation of the app-based
worker or applicant, including pay
rates, assignments, bonuses, or other
benefits; and
(II) a description of the
categories of data and the main
parameters of that data for the
automated decision system and the
relative importance and weights of the
main parameters in the automated
decision system for purposes of
creating inferences or making work-
related decisions regarding the app-
based worker or applicant, including
how data regarding the app-based worker
or applicant (including regarding
attributes of the worker or applicant)
will influence automated decision
system outputs or the outcome of any
work-related decision and whether (and,
if so, how) the automated decision
system outputs will be individualized
for the app-based worker or applicant;
(v) the methods, processes, inputs,
attributes, or data by which the covered
digital labor platform provider determines the
amount charged to a consumer for any good or
service provided through the covered digital
labor platform and the relative weights of such
methods, processes, inputs, attributes, or data
in such determination;
(vi) the methods, processes, inputs,
attributes, or data by which the covered
digital labor platform provider determines how,
whether, and when to provide the app-based
worker with a work assignment and what work
assignment the covered digital labor platform
provider will offer or provide to the app-based
worker; and
(vii) the specific grounds, conditions, and
reasons for which a covered digital labor
platform provider may take any adverse action
with respect to the app-based worker.
(B) Timing.--A notice under subparagraph (A) shall
be provided--
(i) with respect to any applicant, at a
time that is after the applicant has signed up
for, applied for, activated, or created an
account and before the applicant performs any
work or provides any service for remuneration
for the covered digital labor platform provider
or on or through a covered digital labor
platform;
(ii) with respect to an app-based worker--
(I) for any electronic monitoring
tool or automated decision system that
is in effect on the day before the date
of enactment of this Act, not later
than the later of--
(aa) 30 days after the date
on which a final rule to carry
out this section takes effect;
or
(bb) 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act;
or
(II) for any other electronic
monitoring tool or automated decision
system, as soon as practicable, but not
less than 96 hours before the
electronic monitoring tool or automated
decision system takes effect with
respect to that app-base worker;
(iii) annually to each app-based worker who
performed work on or through the covered
digital labor platform of the covered digital
labor platform provider during the year
preceding the date the notice is provided;
(iv) in the app-based worker's primary
language; and
(v) to an app-based worker or applicant not
later than 5 business days after any request by
the app-based worker or applicant.
(2) Comprehensive and detailed use notice.--
(A) In general.--A covered digital labor platform
provider that uses an electronic monitoring tool or
automated decision system to make or assist in making a
work-related decision with respect to an app-based
worker that substantially impacts the compensation or
work assignments of the app-based worker or the access
of the app-based worker to the covered digital labor
platform shall, as described in subparagraph (B),
provide to the app-based worker a notice that
includes--
(i) a description of the data and
attributes used in the work-related decision
with respect to the app-based worker;
(ii) in the case of the use of an automated
decision system, a description of the inputs
for the automated decision system and the
weight of each for purposes of the work-related
decision, the automated decision system outputs
with respect to that work-related decision, and
the method by which the worker can obtain the
range of possible outputs, including aggregate
output statistics; and
(iii) the metadata used for the work-
related decision, including for each variable
of the metadata the name, attribute, value,
what the variable captures, and examples of the
values it captures.
(B) Timing.--A notice under subparagraph (A) shall
be provided to an app-based worker--
(i) not later than 5 business days after
the initial request by the app-based worker for
the notice; and
(ii) if the app-based worker requests
subsequent notices on an ongoing basis, not
more than 48 hours after the covered digital
labor platform provider uses an electronic
monitoring tool or automated decision system
with respect to the app-based worker as
provided in subparagraph (A).
(3) Additional disclosures.--Before the first time that an
app-based worker performs any work or provides any service for
remuneration on or through a covered digital labor platform or,
in the case of an app-based worker who has already performed
such work or provided such services on or before the date of
enactment of this Act, not later than 365 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the covered digital labor platform
provider shall notify the app-based worker of--
(A) all required disclosures and the obligations of
the covered digital labor platform under this Act; and
(B) all other applicable minimum pay and benefits
standards that apply to the app-based worker.
(4) Itemized receipts.--
(A) In general.--At the end of each work assignment
of an app-based worker, the covered digital labor
platform provider shall disclose to the app-based
worker each component of the pay of the app-based
worker, including, to the extent applicable and as
further defined and delimited through regulations
promulgated by the Secretary--
(i) the total amount paid by the consumer
to the covered digital labor platform provider
for the work assignment performed by the app-
based worker exclusive of any tip provided to
the app-based worker as described in clause
(ii);
(ii) the amount of any tip paid by the
consumer through the covered digital labor
platform provider as gratuity for the work of
the app-based worker;
(iii) the amount paid to the app-based
worker by the covered digital labor platform
provider excluding the tip described in clause
(ii) and any reimbursement by the provider of
costs incurred by the app-based worker;
(iv) the take rate for the work assignment;
(v) the total distance traveled by the app-
based worker for the work assignment in miles;
(vi) whether the work assignment
contributed to or was related to a bonus or
other incentive for the app-based worker;
(vii) total time worked by the app-based
worker for the work assignment; and
(viii) information on whether that work
assignment was offered to any other app-based
worker, and if so, the amount of compensation
offered to the other app-based worker.
(B) Update of disclosure.--A covered digital labor
platform provider that provides a disclosure under
subparagraph (A) may update the disclosure for a period
of not more than 48 hours after the disclosure is
provided to the app-based worker.
(5) Weekly pay statements.--Not less often than once a
week, each covered digital labor platform provider shall
disclose to each app-based worker of the covered digital labor
platform provider each component of pay of the app-based worker
for the week (referred to in this paragraph as the ``covered
week''), including, to the extent applicable and as further
defined and delimited through regulations promulgated by the
Secretary--
(A) the total amount paid to the app-based worker
by the covered digital labor platform provider during
the covered week excluding the amount of any tips paid
to the app-based worker and any reimbursement by the
provider of costs incurred by the app-based worker;
(B) the total amount paid to the covered digital
labor platform provider for all work assignments by the
app-based worker during the covered week by all
consumers, excluding any tips paid to the app-based
worker;
(C) the weekly average take rate for all consumer
payments for all work assignments of the app-based
worker;
(D) the total amount of tips paid by consumers to
the app-based worker for work assignments in the
covered week;
(E) the total amount of compensation paid by the
covered digital labor platform provider to the app-
based worker for work assignments in the covered week,
including any amount provided as a tip;
(F) the number of work assignments completed by the
app-based worker in the covered week;
(G) the total amount of time on task by the app-
based worker in the covered week;
(H) the total time worked by the app-based worker
in the covered week;
(I) the hourly wage of the app-based worker,
expressed as the ratio of the amount described in
subparagraph (A) to the amount of time described in
subparagraph (H);
(J) the total miles traveled for time worked and
time on task by the app-based worker in the covered
week; and
(K) for each work assignment offered by the covered
digital labor platform provider to the app-based worker
that was not completed by the app-based worker in the
covered week, the amount of compensation offered.
(6) Format.--Each notice, disclosure, or notification under
this subsection shall be provided in the form and manner
described in regulation by the Secretary, including that the
notice, disclosure, or notification is provided--
(A) in an electronic document that is machine
readable;
(B) in an easily accessible form, including on the
account of an app-based worker or applicant (regardless
of whether the covered digital labor platform provider
has deactivated, suspended, or terminated the app-based
worker) or posted on the covered digital labor
platform, and available to download;
(C) in a manner that enables the app-based worker
or applicant to read, review, save, and reasonably
access the notice, disclosure, or notification for not
less than 48 months after the date on which the notice,
disclosure, or notification was provided;
(D) in a manner that ensures the information in the
notice, disclosure, or notification is clearly and
effectively communicated, including in the language the
app-based worker identifies as their primary language;
and
(E) as applicable, through a posting on the covered
digital labor platform in English and any other
language that more than 20 percent of app-based workers
of the relevant covered digital labor platform provider
identify as their primary language.
(b) Disclosures to Consumers.--At the end of each work assignment
of an app-based worker, the covered digital labor platform provider
shall disclose, through electronic correspondence, to the consumer with
respect to the work assignment, to the extent applicable and as further
defined and delimited through regulations promulgated by the
Secretary--
(1) the total amount paid by the consumer for the work
assignment, excluding any tip;
(2) the amount added as a tip from the consumer and any
reimbursement by the provider of costs incurred by the app-
based worker;
(3) the amounts paid to the app-based worker by the covered
digital labor platform provider, excluding the amount described
in paragraph (2); and
(4) the take rate for the work-assignment.
(c) Additional Disclosures.--
(1) Reporting to the agency.--On a quarterly basis and in
accordance with any rule prescribed by the Secretary, each
covered digital labor platform provider shall electronically
disclose to the Secretary--
(A) copies of the notices required under subsection
(a)(1);
(B) aggregated app-based worker data regarding the
information required to be provided to all app-based
workers of the covered digital platform provider
through the disclosures under subsection (a)(5) during
the relevant quarter;
(C) the aggregated app-based worker data described
under subparagraph (B), disaggregated by State and by
certain metropolitan statistical areas (as identified
by the Office of Management and Budget) selected,
through regulations by the Secretary, based on
geographic distribution across the regions of the
United States, including in the Northeast, South,
Midwest, and West;
(D) the demographic data of app-based workers who
completed a work assignment during the relevant
quarter, based on self-reporting by app-based workers,
as described in section 5(b);
(E) hourly wage data for app-based workers
disaggregated by worker demographic; and
(F) any fees charged by the covered digital labor
platform provider to an app-based worker in order to
perform work, receive compensation for work, or provide
services on or through the covered digital labor
platform.
(2) Publication.--
(A) Publication by covered digital labor platform
provider.--Each covered digital labor platform provider
shall publish the data disclosed under paragraph (1),
in an anonymized manner, on a public internet website
of the covered digital labor platform provider in a
machine readable and searchable format.
(B) Publication by secretary.--Not later than
February 15 of each year, the Secretary shall make the
data disclosed under paragraph (1) for the preceding
calendar year, available to the public, which shall
include posting the information, in an anonymized
manner, on a public internet website of the Secretary
in a searchable and downloadable format.
(C) Regulations.--The Secretary shall issue
regulations detailing and defining requirements with
respect to the publications under subparagraphs (A) and
(B) to ensure the accessibility and usability of the
information in the publications and protect the
anonymity of each app-based worker.
SEC. 5. ACCOUNTABILITY.
(a) Take Rate Cap.--
(1) In general.--A covered digital labor platform provider
that offers a consumer on-demand transportation services may
not charge in excess of a 25 percent take rate for such
service.
(2) Take rate offset limitation.--A covered digital labor
platform provider described in paragraph (1) may not impose a
fee on an app-based worker unless the ratio of the amount that
is paid by a consumer (exclusive of any tip) with respect to a
work assignment and is not provided to an app-based worker as
remuneration to the amount that is the total amount paid by the
consumer (exclusive of any tip) with respect to such work
assignment plus the amount of such fee (or a pro rata amount of
such fee if the fee is paid in a lump sum) is not more than 25
percent.
(b) Request for Voluntary Disclosures.--Notwithstanding subsection
(d), a covered digital labor platform provider shall provide every app-
based worker of the covered digital labor platform provider an
opportunity to disclose, subject to regulations promulgated by the
Secretary in consultation with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, demographic data in a manner that protects the privacy of
the app-based worker.
(c) Individualized Algorithmic Wage Setting.--
(1) Equal pay for equal work.--A covered digital labor
platform provider may not offer an amount of compensation for a
work assignment to an app-based worker that is different than
the amount of compensation that was offered to another app-
based worker for any substantially similar or comparable tasks
unless the covered digital labor platform provider can clearly
demonstrate that the difference in offered compensation is--
(A) based on cost differentials between the
specific workers for performing the tasks involved in
the work assignment; or
(B) otherwise required by a collective bargaining
agreement that applies to the app-based worker or the
other app-based worker.
(2) Surveillance wage setting.--A covered digital labor
platform provider may not use individualized data with respect
to an app-based worker as an input in an automated decision
system for purposes of informing compensation decisions for
work assignments for the app-based worker or use any automated
decision system output for such purposes if the output relied
on or included such individualized data, unless the covered
digital labor platform provider can clearly demonstrate that--
(A)(i) any difference between the amount of
compensation offered for the work assignment and the
amount of compensation that was offered to another app-
based worker for any substantially similar or
comparable tasks is, in accordance with paragraph
(1)(A), based on cost differentials between the
specific workers for performing the tasks involved in
the work assignment; and
(ii) such data is directly related to the tasks
involved in the work assignment; or
(B) any difference between the amount of
compensation offered for the work assignment and the
amount of compensation that was offered to another app-
based worker for any substantially similar or
comparable tasks is, in accordance with paragraph
(1)(B), otherwise required by a collective bargaining
agreement that applies to the app-based worker or the
other app-based worker.
(3) Exception.--This subsection shall not apply with
respect to an app-based worker of a covered digital labor
platform provider if the covered digital labor platform
provider plays no role in setting or determining--
(A) the pay rate of the app-based worker; and
(B) the amount charged to a consumer for services
provided by the app-based worker.
(d) Data Processing Limitations.--A covered digital labor platform
provider may not--
(1) use electronic monitoring, an automated decision
system, or worker data to infer immigration status, political
opinion, religious or philosophical beliefs, disability status,
health status or history, emotional or psychological state,
sexual or gender orientation, or union sympathy or likelihood
of organizing or otherwise asserting rights; or
(2) collect an app-based worker's data other than during
time worked for the covered digital platform provider.
(e) Limiting Deceptive Patterns.--A covered digital labor platform
provider may not use any platform interface that contains unfair,
covert, or deceptive information regarding compensation, including on
the eligibility for bonuses, or that obscures or delays an app-based
worker's access to such information regarding compensation in a manner
that inhibits the worker's ability to make an informed decision about
whether or how to perform work or provide services for remuneration on
or through the covered digital labor platform of the covered digital
labor platform provider.
SEC. 6. DATA PRESERVATION.
(a) In General.--A covered digital labor platform provider and each
vendor of the covered digital labor platform provider--
(1) shall retain for 4 years contemporaneous records of any
data regarding an app-based worker that is collected using an
electronic monitoring tool or used as an automated decision
system input;
(2) may not sell, transfer, or disclose app-based worker
data collected via an electronic monitoring tool or used as an
automated decision system input to any other entity unless the
sale, transfer, or disclosure is--
(A) pursuant to a request from an authorized agent
of an app-based worker of the covered digital labor
platform provider regarding the data of the app-based
worker; or
(B) is otherwise required under State or Federal
law and the covered digital labor platform provides
notice to the app-based worker; and
(3) shall collect, process, store, and retain all data
regarding an app-based worker in a manner that protects the
privacy of the app-based worker (including protection from
unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or
disclosure) and in accordance with any regulation promulgated
by the Secretary.
(b) Disclosure.--Except as otherwise provided under section
4(a)(2)(B) with respect to a comprehensive and detailed use notice, a
covered digital labor platform provider or vendor of the covered
digital labor platform provider shall provide any data retained in
accordance with this subsection with respect to an app-based worker or
an individual who was an app-based worker to the app-based worker,
individual, or authorized agent of the app-based worker not more than 5
business days after the covered digital labor platform provider or
vendor receives the request from the app-based worker, individual, or
authorized agent.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZED AGENT AUTHORITY.
(a) In General.--Pursuant to regulations issued by the Secretary,
an app-based worker may, in writing, authorize a person to be the
authorized agent of the app-based worker for purposes of receiving any
required disclosure or notice from a covered digital labor platform
provider under paragraphs (1), (2), (4), and (5) of section 4(a) or
section 6(b) as if the authorized agent was the app-based worker.
(b) Treatment of an Authorized Agent.--
(1) In general.--With respect to an app-based worker who
authorizes an authorized agent under subsection (a), the
covered digital labor platform provider of the app-based worker
shall provide an additional copy of each notice or disclosure
described in such subsection to the authorized agent at the
time such notice or disclosure is due to the app-based worker
and upon request by the authorized agent.
(2) Information requests.--A covered digital labor platform
provider shall--
(A) provide a designated email address, which is
prominently displayed on its website, to which an
authorized agent can submit a request for a notice or
disclosure described in subsection (a); and
(B) provide the notice or disclosure--
(i) not later than 10 business days after
an initial request is submitted; and
(ii) thereafter, if applicable, at the same
time any such disclosure or notice would
otherwise be due to the app-based worker.
(c) Privacy Requirements for an Authorized Agent.--An authorized
agent authorized under subsection (a) may not use any personal
information regarding an app-based worker, or any other information
collected from or about the app-based worker, for any purposes other
than the purposes specified in the written authorization of the app-
based worker.
(d) Notification of Subpoena.--
(1) In general.--An authorized agent authorized under
subsection (a) may not disclose any information received from a
covered digital labor platform with respect to an app-based
worker to any government entity unless required to do so by a
subpoena or other court order compelling production of such
information.
(2) Disclosure.--An authorized agent that is required to
produce information to a government entity as described in
paragraph (1) shall notify the app-based worker who authorized
the agent to receive such information.
SEC. 8. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS.
(a) In General.--A covered digital labor platform provider may not
discriminate or retaliate (including through intimidation, threats,
coercion, deactivation, diminishment of compensation or access to the
covered digital labor platform or work assignments, or harassment)
against any app-based worker--
(1) for exercising, or attempting to exercise, any right
provided under this Act; or
(2) because the app-based worker (or another individual
acting at the request of the app-based worker or an authorized
agent of the app-based worker) has--
(A) filed a written or oral complaint to the
covered digital labor platform provider, or a Federal,
State, or local government entity of a violation of
section 4, 5, or 6;
(B) instituted, caused to be instituted, or
otherwise participated in any inquiry or proceeding
under or related to this Act;
(C) given, or is about to give, any information in
connection with any inquiry or proceeding relating to
any right provided under this Act; or
(D) testified, or is about to testify, in any
inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided
under this Act.
(b) Rebuttable Presumption.--If a covered digital labor platform
provider takes an adverse action against an app-based worker within 90
days of the app-based worker engaging, or attempting to engage in,
activities protected by subsection (a), there shall be a rebuttable
presumption that the adverse action is in violation of such subsection.
SEC. 9. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Enforcement by the Secretary.--To ensure compliance with the
provisions of this Act, or any regulation or order issued under this
Act, the Secretary, may take the following actions:
(1) Investigate.--The Secretary may--
(A) review and analyze disclosures submitted under
section 4(c)(1) by a covered digital labor platform
provider and issue public reports regarding
compensation and hours by industry;
(B) collect any additional data regarding the
compensation, hours, and other conditions and practices
in any industry for which covered digital labor
platform providers are subject to this Act;
(C) inspect any place or record (and make such
transcriptions thereof), question any app-based worker,
and investigate any facts, conditions, practices, or
matters as the Secretary may deem necessary or
appropriate to determine whether a covered digital
labor platform provider has violated any provision of
this Act, or which may aid in the enforcement of the
provisions of this Act; and
(D) make requests for information, as authorized
under paragraph (2), on a joint basis with another
Federal agency, a State attorney general, or a State
agency.
(2) Reporting.--The Secretary may require, by general or
special orders and in addition to the disclosures required in
section 4(c)(1), a covered digital labor platform provider to
file with the Secretary, in such form as the Secretary may
prescribe, annual or special reports or answers in writing to
specific questions, furnishing to the Secretary such
information or records as the Secretary may require as to the
organization, business, conduct, practices, management, and
relation to other corporations, partnerships, and individuals,
of the covered digital labor platform provider.
(3) Enforcement.--The Secretary shall receive, investigate,
and attempt to resolve, any complaints from app-based workers
of violations of sections 4, 5, 6, and 8 in the same manner
that the Secretary receives, investigates, and attempts to
resolve complaints of violations of sections 6 and 7 of the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206, 207).
(4) Public education.--The Secretary shall engage in public
education, including on its website and its outreach to
stakeholders, to inform app-based workers of the rights
pursuant to this Act.
(5) Litigation.--The Solicitor of Labor may appear for and
represent the Secretary in any litigation brought under this
subsection.
(6) Referral for criminal proceedings.--If the Secretary,
in the course of the performance of any action or duty under
this Act, obtains evidence that any covered digital labor
platform provider has engaged in conduct that may constitute a
violation of Federal criminal law, the Secretary shall refer
the matter to the Attorney General for prosecution under any
applicable law. Nothing in this paragraph shall affect any
other authority of the Secretary to disclose information.
(b) Private Right of Action.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Affected app-based worker.--Notwithstanding any
action by the Secretary under subsection (a)(3) or
subsection (c), an app-based worker may commence a
civil action against a covered digital labor platform
provider or, as applicable, a vendor of the covered
digital labor platform provider for an alleged
violation of paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4) or (5) of
section 4(a) or section 5, 6, or 8 in any Federal court
of competent jurisdiction.
(B) Consumer.--Notwithstanding any action by the
Secretary under subsection (a)(3) or subsection (c), a
consumer may commence a civil action against any
covered digital labor platform provider for an alleged
violation of section 4(b) in any Federal court of
competent jurisdiction.
(C) Authorized agent.--Notwithstanding any action
by the Secretary under subsection (a)(3) or subsection
(c), an authorized agent of an app-based worker may
commence a civil action against a covered digital labor
platform provider for an alleged violation of paragraph
(1), (2), (3), (4) or (5) of section 4(a) or section 5,
6, or 8 in any Federal court of competent jurisdiction
as if the authorized agent were the app-based worker.
(D) Labor organization.--Notwithstanding any action
by the Secretary under subsection (a)(3) or subsection
(c), a labor organization or a worker center that is
adversely affected by an alleged violation of paragraph
(1), (2), (3), (4) or (5) of section 4(a) or section 5,
6, or 8 or that represents an app-based worker who is
adversely affected by such an alleged violation may
commence a civil action against the covered digital
labor platform provider or, as applicable, a vendor of
the covered digital labor provider that violates such
section in any Federal court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) Relief.--
(A) In general.--In a civil action brought under
paragraph (1) in which the plaintiff prevails, the
court shall award--
(i) statutory damages in accordance with
the applicable provisions of subparagraph (B);
(ii) any actual damages sustained plus an
equal amount as liquidated damages;
(iii) reasonable attorney's fees and
litigation costs;
(iv) appropriate equitable relief; and
(v) appropriate injunctive relief.
(B) Statutory damages.--Subject to subparagraph
(D), statutory damages under this subparagraph shall be
the following:
(i) Failure to make proper disclosures.--
(I) Timeliness of notices.--For any
violation of paragraph (1), (2), or (3)
of section 4(a)--
(aa) an amount that is not
less than $20,000 per failure
to provide a notice required
under such paragraph; or
(bb) an amount that is not
less than $5,000 per failure to
provide a notice required under
such paragraph in, as
determined through regulation
by the Secretary, a timely
manner.
(II) Format of notices.--For any
violation of section 4(a)(6), an amount
that is not less than $1,000 per
violation.
(III) Receipts, pay statements, and
individualized algorithmic wage
setting.--For any violation of
paragraph (4) or (5) of section 4(a) or
section 5(c), an amount that is not
less than $5,000 per violation.
(IV) Consumer notice.--For any
violation of section 4(b), an amount
that is not less than $2,000 per
violation.
(V) Quarterly reporting and
publication.--For any violation of
paragraph (1) or paragraph (2)(A)
section 4(c), an amount that is not
less than $20,000 per violation.
(ii) Violations of take rate caps.--For any
violation of paragraph (1) or (2) of section
5(a) with respect to an app-based worker, an
amount that is the greater of--
(I) an amount that is 4 times the
difference between the maximum
permissible take rate under such
section and the amount actually paid to
the app-based worker; or
(II) $20,000 per violation.
(iii) Data preservation violations.--For
any violation of section 6, an amount that is
not less than $20,000 per violation.
(iv) Whistleblower violations.--For any
violation of section 8, an amount that is not
less than $25,000 per violation.
(C) Temporary whistleblower relief.--In addition to
relief for a prevailing party under subparagraph (A), a
court may award punitive damages and temporary
injunctive relief while a case is pending, including
reinstatement. All relief is available to a prevailing
whistleblower plaintiff regardless of whether the
plaintiff is authorized to work in the United States.
(D) Adjustment of statutory damages.--The
Secretary, not later than September 1 of each calendar
year, shall adjust the dollar amounts referred to in
subparagraph (B) by the percent increase, if any, in
the consumer price index for all urban consumers
(United States city average), or a successor index, as
determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or a
successor agency, for the most recent 12-month period
for which data is available.
(E) Joint and several liability.--In a civil action
brought under this subsection against a covered digital
labor platform provider and a vendor of the covered
digital labor platform provider for a violation of
section 6 in which the plaintiff prevails, the covered
digital labor platform provider and the vendor shall be
jointly and severally liable for the violation.
(c) Civil Monetary Penalties.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary
may impose a penalty on any covered digital labor platform
provider that violates any provision of this Act in an amount
that is--
(A) not less than $25,000 for any violation;
(B) not less than $50,000 for any violation that
occurs not more than 2 years after another such
violation; or
(C) not less than $100,000 for any willful
violation.
(2) Amount determination.--In determining the amount of any
penalty under this subsection, the Secretary may consider the
appropriateness of such penalty to the size of the business
charged, the gravity of the violation, and whether the amount
is sufficient to deter future violations.
(3) Use of amounts.--
(A) Establishment of fund.--There is established in
the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as
the Covered Digital Labor Platform Investigation Fund
(referred to in this paragraph as the ``Fund'').
(B) Deposit.--Any amount collected as a penalty
under this subsection shall be deposited into the Fund.
(C) Use of funds.--Amounts in the Fund shall be
available to the Secretary, without fiscal year
limitation and without further appropriation for
purposes of reimbursement of any costs of investigating
violations of this Act, determining whether any such
violations occurred, and collecting penalties under
this section.
SEC. 10. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
For purposes of this Act, the use of an electronic monitoring tool
or automated decision system by a covered digital labor platform
provider includes the use of such an electronic monitoring tool or
automated decision system by a vendor or other third party acting on
behalf of the covered digital labor platform provider.
SEC. 11. REGULATIONS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Secretary shall issue regulations that--
(1) define and delimit any undefined term used in this Act,
including by providing, as determined necessary by the
Secretary, examples of the application of the term to different
app-based occupations;
(2) further clarify, define, or delimit any term that is
defined in this Act (including the terms substantially impacts,
aggregated app-based worker data, data, take rate, time on
task, and time worked), including by providing, as determined
necessary by the Secretary, examples of the application of the
term to different app-based occupations; and
(3) provide for industry- or occupation-specific rules, as
determined necessary by the Secretary.
SEC. 12. LIMITATION OF JUDICIAL REVIEW OF REGULATIONS.
(a) In General.--Congress delegates to the Secretary the authority,
in issuing any regulation under or with respect to this Act, to
interpret the provisions of this Act. A court engaged in judicial
review of those provisions, including judicial review under section 706
of title 5, United States Code, shall only determine whether the
agency's interpretation is based on a reasonable or permissible
construction of this Act.
(b) Standards for Judicial Review Related to Regulations.--For any
action brought for declaratory or injunctive relief to challenge,
whether facially or as-applied, the constitutionality or lawfulness of
any rule or regulation promulgated under this Act--
(1) such an action may be brought not more than 3 years
after the date that the rule or regulation was promulgated; and
(2) such an action shall be filed in the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia.
SEC. 13. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.
(a) In General.--
(1) Preservation of state powers.--This Act shall not be
construed as preempting, altering, limiting, or affecting the
power or authority of a State to enact, adopt, or enforce any
State law that provides the same or greater protections to app-
based workers or consumers as the requirements under this Act.
(2) No safe harbor.--This Act shall not be construed to
permit noncompliance with any Federal, State, or local law that
establishes requirements regarding minimum wages or maximum
work hours or nondiscrimination in the workplace.
(3) Arbitration agreements.--Notwithstanding chapter 1 of
title 9, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Federal
Arbitration Act''), or any other provision of law, a predispute
arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver between
an app-based worker and a covered digital labor platform
provider shall not be valid or enforceable.
(4) Non-disclosure agreements.--Any confidentiality
agreement or other contract provision that prohibits the
disclosure of information by a party to the contract between an
app-based worker and a covered digital labor platform provider
shall not be valid or enforceable.
(5) No waiver.--The rights and remedies in this Act may not
be waived by any agreement, policy, form, or condition of work.
(b) Fair Labor Standards Act.--
(1) In general.--This Act shall not be construed as
exempting a covered digital labor platform provider from
applicable requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) or regulations issued pursuant to
such Act.
(2) Recordkeeping.--This Act shall not be construed to
alter, limit, or affect the power to investigate and gather
data regarding the wages, hours, and other conditions and
employment practices under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
(29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), to excuse noncompliance with any
recordkeeping requirements under such Act, or to limit
authorized collaboration with State or local agencies or the
power to issue homework regulations as established under such
Act.
SEC. 14. FLEXIBILITY.
This Act shall not be construed to require, or to provide
justification for, a covered digital labor platform provider altering
or amending any policy, procedure, or system in a manner that has the
effect of decreasing, limiting, or impeding the scheduling flexibility
or access to work of an app-based worker.
SEC. 15. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision
to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the
remainder of the provisions of this Act and the application of such
provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected.
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