Empowering App-Based Workers Act
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill creates congressional findings establishing that app-based workers face poverty wages, wage theft, discrimination, and lack of transparency in algorithmic pay decisions, providing legislative basis for regulating, defines key terms including app-based worker, covered digital labor platform, take rate, automated decision system, electronic monitoring tool, time worked, and adverse action for purposes of regulating gig economy, and requires digital labor platforms to disclose to workers how electronic monitoring tools and automated decision systems are used, including algorithm inputs, data collection, pay determination methods, and work. It relies on compliance mandates, reporting requirements, liability protections, and exemptions. The main policy areas are Technology, Transportation, Labor, and Finance.
Who Benefits and How
App-based gig workers could face fewer barriers, Labor organizations and worker centers could face fewer barriers, and App-based ride-hail drivers could gain revenue opportunities.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Digital labor platform companies would take on compliance duties, Department of Labor would take on compliance duties, and Ride-hail platform companies (Uber, Lyft) could lose revenue opportunities.
Key Provisions
- Creates congressional findings establishing that app-based workers face poverty wages, wage theft, discrimination, and lack of transparency in algorithmic pay decisions, providing legislative basis for regulating...
- Defines key terms including app-based worker, covered digital labor platform, take rate, automated decision system, electronic monitoring tool, time worked, and adverse action for purposes of regulating gig economy...
- Requires digital labor platforms to disclose to workers how electronic monitoring tools and automated decision systems are used, including algorithm inputs, data collection, pay determination methods, and work...
- Requires caps take rate at 25% for ride-hail services; prohibits differential pay for similar work based on individualized worker data unless justified by cost differentials or collective bargaining; prohibits using...
- Requires platforms and vendors to retain worker data for 4 years.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill creates congressional findings establishing that app-based workers face poverty wages, wage theft, discrimination, and lack of transparency in algorithmic pay decisions, providing legislative basis for regulating, defines key terms including app-based worker, covered digital labor platform, take rate, automated decision system, electronic monitoring tool, time worked, and adverse action for purposes of regulating gig economy, and requires digital labor platforms to disclose to workers how electronic monitoring tools and automated decision systems are used, including algorithm inputs, data collection, pay determination methods, and work.
Key Policy Areas
Technology, Transportation, Labor, Finance
Primary Purpose
The bill creates congressional findings establishing that app-based workers face poverty wages, wage theft, discrimination, and lack of transparency in algorithmic pay decisions, providing legislative basis for regulating, defines key terms including app-based worker, covered digital labor platform, take rate, automated decision system, electronic monitoring tool, time worked, and adverse action for purposes of regulating gig economy, and requires digital labor platforms to disclose to workers how electronic monitoring tools and automated decision systems are used, including algorithm inputs, data collection, pay determination methods, and work.
Policy Domains
Empowering App-Based Workers Act
Identified Gains
- App-based gig workers
- Labor organizations and worker centers
- App-based ride-hail drivers
- State governments
- Plaintiffs attorneys
Identified Costs
- Digital labor platform companies
- Department of Labor
- Ride-hail platform companies (Uber, Lyft)
- Third-party technology vendors serving platforms
- Digital labor platform companies (Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart)
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Murphy, and Ms. Baldwin) introduced …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, …
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Digital labor platform companies, Digital labor platform companies (Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart), Ride-hail platform companies (Uber, Lyft)
Digital labor platform companies faces effects in multiple directions
App-based gig workers, App-based gig workers (drivers, delivery workers), App-based gig workers (ride-hail, delivery)
Department of Labor
Department of Labor faces effects in multiple directions
Labor organizations and worker centers, Labor organizations seeking to organize gig workers
Plaintiffs attorneys, Plaintiffs attorneys specializing in labor law
Third-party technology vendors serving platforms
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Labor
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The percentage of the total amount a platform charges consumers for on-demand transportation services (excluding tips) that is not paid to the app-based worker
For on-demand services, all time an app-based worker is logged into the platform and available to perform services; for scheduled work, all time from reporting to work through completion of tasks
An action that a reasonable person would find negatively impacts an app-based worker's access to or terms of work, including fewer assignments, reduced pay, suspension, deactivation, or termination
An individual who performs work or provides services for remuneration on or through a covered digital labor platform, regardless of whether compensated by the platform provider or another person
A platform provided through electronic means (app, website, mobile app) that provides services performed by app-based workers at consumer request, facilitates work in exchange for payment, and uses automated decision-making or electronic monitoring
Any tool, software, system, process using computation to issue outputs that augment, assist, or replace human judgment, decision making, or policy implementation
Any system that facilitates collection of data concerning activities, communications, actions, biometrics, or behaviors of an app-based worker by means other than direct human observation
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology