House Labor and Industry Committee approves McNeill bill to protect workers’ rights

Rep. Jeanne McNeill    December 12, 2023 | 1:33 PM

HARRISBURG, Dec. 12 – State Rep. Jeanne McNeill announced today that the PA House Labor and Industry Committee has approved her legislation that would require labor brokers to register with the state before conducting business in Pennsylvania.

“In 2022, the Joint Task Force on Misclassification of Employees released its final report, which highlighted the role that unregulated labor brokers play in misclassifying workers in Pennsylvania,” said McNeill. “Misclassifying employees as independent contractors robs the workers of important employment benefits and protections and reduces state tax revenue.”

Labor brokers are entities or individuals that hire employees and sells the services of the employees to another employer in need of temporary employees. Under H.B. 1748, all labor brokers would be required to be registered with the Department of Labor and Industry if they want to do business in Pennsylvania. Additionally, the bill would penalize labor brokers for operating without proper registration and penalize those who knowingly contract with unregistered labor brokers.

“Recently, we saw a PennDOT contractor that was forced to repay more than $20 million in wages stolen from its employees showing that there is a need to protect workers in our Commonwealth and beyond,” McNeill said. “We must always ensure that workers are getting paid a fair amount in both wages and employment benefits. We must fight against these contactors and businesses that believe they can get away with stealing workers’ wages and benefits. How can we work toward a more equitable future, when we don’t have that same equity in the workplace? This bill looks to change that, and I am proud that it will move on to the next step in the process of becoming a law.”

House Bill 1748 now heads to the full House for consideration.

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