In the wake of the decision Dobbs historic Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, said many employers will start covering travel expenses for workers who need abortions and live in countries with bans. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said a large part of the workforce would be excluded from these benefits: workers classified as “independent contractors.”
The two lawmakers sent a letter to the Department of Labor on Thursday urging the agency to follow through on a proposed crackdown on worker misclassification. He said it was necessary because his office believes that many companies will not include contractors when reimbursing abortion payments.
Warren and Bush said five companies in particular — Amazon, Uber, Lyft, Grubhub and DoorDash — gave “generally inadequate” answers when asked whether contract labor would be covered. “But all five confirmed, expressly or implicitly, that independent contractors would be left out of travel reimbursement for abortion care benefits,” he wrote. The full letter, which was co-signed by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) can be read below.
“This disparity will have particular implications for already marginalized communities.”
– Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) and Rep. Corey Bush (D)
Lawmakers say the situation reflects the “disparity” between white-collar workers who are directly employed by companies and independent contractors who technically work for themselves. Contractors are often excluded from company employee health care plans, which appear to be the primary vehicle for reimbursement for abortion-related travel.
“The response confirms that the company’s executives are paid more rightfully enjoy access to this benefit, its contractors, who lack both pay stability and minimum wage protection, it won’t,” he said.
Many workers had abortion benefits through their health plans before the Dobbs decision, whether they knew it or not. As HuffPost reported last year, the expansion of such benefits in recent months seems to be limited mostly to “a small select group of workers in America,” especially white-collar workers. (But there are notable exceptions, such as Starbucks, whose baristas on health plans will be eligible for travel reimbursement.)
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Although many contractors are actually self-employed, for years employers have labeled workers as “independent contractors” to avoid traditional employment costs, such as providing workplace benefits and paying workers’ compensation related injuries. In the case of gigging platforms like Uber and Lyft, contractors also bear significant equipment costs in the form of cars and gas.
The Department of Labor introduced a new rules in October that will limit the situation in which the employer can put workers in the contractor’s bucket. If the rule ends, many employers will be forced to reclassify their contractors and employees and begin covering the associated costs.
Warren and Bush said in the letter that Amazon and Uber explained to their offices that only their direct employees are eligible for travel reimbursement. While Lyft, Grubhub and DoorDash did not “clearly” say so, lawmakers said, the companies said only people enrolled in their company’s health plans would be covered.
“This disparity will have particular implications for already marginalized communities,” he wrote. “More women have joined the gig workforce in recent years, and women of color face greater barriers to accessing abortion and related care.”
He called on the Department of Labor to implement the “strongest rules” to get more contractors reclassified as employees.