103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB1122

 

Introduced 1/12/2023, by Rep. Will Guzzardi

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Freelance Worker Protection Act. Provides that freelance workers must be compensated by hiring parties for their services in a timely manner. Provides that whenever a hiring party retains the services of a freelance worker, the contract between the hiring party and the freelance worker shall be reduced to writing. Provides that no hiring party shall threaten, intimidate, discipline, harass, deny a work opportunity to, or discriminate against a freelance worker, or take any other action that penalizes a freelance worker for, or is reasonably likely to deter a freelance worker from, exercising or attempting to exercise any right guaranteed under the Act. Contains provisions concerning complaints to the Director of Labor; the powers and duties of the Director; civil actions brought by freelance workers; civil actions brought by the State; the scope of freelance worker contracts; a public awareness campaign; and surveys, information collection, and reporting requirements. Effective immediately.


LRB103 04895 SPS 49905 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB1122LRB103 04895 SPS 49905 b

1    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Freelance Worker Protection Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7    "Construction contractor" means any person, sole
8proprietor, partnership, firm, corporation, limited liability
9company, association, or other legal entity that by itself or
10through others offers to undertake, holds itself out as being
11able to undertake, or does undertake a construction project.
12    "Construction project" means the providing of any labor or
13services, and the use of any materials or equipment in order to
14alter, build, excavate, add to, subtract from, improve,
15repair, maintain, renovate, move, wreck, or demolish any
16bridge, building, highway, road, railroad, land, tunnel,
17sewer, drainage, or other structure, project, development, or
18improvement, or the doing of any part thereof, including the
19erection of scaffolding or other structures or works in
20connection with the construction project.
21    "Department" means the Department of Labor.
22    "Director" means the Director of Labor, or his or her
23designee.

 

 

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1    "Freelance worker" means any person or organization
2composed of no more than one person, whether or not
3incorporated or employing a trade name, that is hired or
4retained as an independent contractor by a hiring party to
5provide services in exchange for an amount equal to or greater
6than $250, either by itself or when aggregated with all
7contracts for services between the same hiring party and
8freelance worker during the immediately preceding 120 days.
9"Freelance worker" does not include:
10        (1) any person who is a sales representative under the
11    terms of the contract at issue;
12        (2) any person engaged in the practice of law under
13    the terms of the contract at issue and who is a member in
14    good standing of the bar of the highest court of any state,
15    district, or territory and who is not under any order of
16    court suspending, enjoining, restraining, disbarring, or
17    otherwise restricting such person in the practices of law;
18        (3) any person who is a licensed medical professional;
19    or
20        (4) any person who is a construction contractor.
21    "Hiring party" means any person who retains a freelance
22worker to provide any service, other than:
23        (1) the United States government;
24        (2) the State of Illinois, including any office,
25    Department, agency, or other body of the State, including
26    the General Assembly and the judiciary;

 

 

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1        (3) a municipality, including any office, Department,
2    agency, or other body of a municipality; or
3        (4) any foreign government.
 
4    Section 10. Guarantee of compensation to freelance
5workers.
6    (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, the contracted
7compensation shall be paid to a freelance worker either:
8        (1) on or before the date such compensation is due
9    under the terms of the contract; or
10        (2) if the contract does not specify when the hiring
11    party must pay the contracted compensation or the
12    mechanism by which the date will be determined, no later
13    than 30 days after the completion of the freelance
14    worker's services under the contract.
15    (b) Once a freelance worker has commenced performance of
16the services under the contract, the hiring party shall not
17require as a condition of timely payment that the freelance
18worker accept less compensation than the amount of the
19contracted compensation.
 
20    Section 15. Required contracts between hiring parties and
21freelance workers.
22    (a) Whenever a hiring party retains the services of a
23freelance worker, the contract between the hiring party and
24the freelance worker shall be reduced to writing. The hiring

 

 

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1party must furnish a copy of the written contract, either
2physically or electronically, to the freelance worker and each
3party to the written contract shall retain a copy.
4    (b) The written contract shall include, at a minimum, the
5following information:
6        (1) the name and mailing address of both the hiring
7    party and the freelance worker;
8        (2) an itemization of all services to be provided by
9    the freelance worker, the value of the services to be
10    provided under the terms of the contract, and the rate and
11    method of compensation;
12        (3) the date on which the hiring party must pay the
13    contracted compensation or the mechanism by which the date
14    will be determined; and
15        (4) the date by which a freelance worker must submit a
16    list of services rendered under the contract to the hiring
17    party in order to meet any internal processing deadlines
18    of the hiring party for the purposes of compensation being
19    timely rendered by the agreed-upon date as described in
20    paragraph (3).
21    (c) The Department may adopt rules requiring additional
22terms to a written contract to ensure that the freelance
23worker and the hiring party understand their obligations under
24the written contract.
25    (d) The hiring party shall be required to keep the written
26contract for a period of no less than 6 years and shall make

 

 

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1the contract available to the Director upon request. The
2failure of a hiring party to produce a contract upon request of
3the Director shall give rise to a presumption that the terms
4that the freelance worker has presented are the agreed upon
5terms.
6    (e) The Director shall make available model contracts on
7the Department's website for use by the general public at no
8cost. The model contracts shall be made available in English,
9Spanish, and the next 4 most commonly used languages in the
10State.
 
11    Section 20. Prohibition on coercive acts by hiring
12parties. No hiring party shall threaten, intimidate,
13discipline, harass, deny a work opportunity to, or
14discriminate against a freelance worker, or take any other
15action that penalizes a freelance worker for, or is reasonably
16likely to deter a freelance worker from, exercising or
17attempting to exercise any right guaranteed under this Act, or
18from obtaining any future work opportunity because the
19freelance worker has exercised or attempted to exercise any
20right guaranteed under this Act.
 
21    Section 25. Complaints.
22    (a) Any freelance worker or his or her authorized
23representative may file with the Director a complaint claiming
24a violation of this Act and the Director shall investigate the

 

 

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1complaint. The Director shall keep the names of freelance
2workers who are the subject of an investigation confidential
3until the time that disclosure is necessary for the resolution
4of the complaint. Failure of a hiring party to keep adequate
5records or provide a written contract as required under this
6Act, in addition to exposing the hiring party to penalties
7authorized under this Act, shall not operate as a bar to the
8filing of a complaint by a freelance worker. If the hiring
9party fails to keep accurate records in violation of this Act,
10the hiring party shall bear the burden of proving that the
11complaining freelance worker was paid in accordance with this
12Act.
13    (b) Each freelance worker who files a complaint regarding
14a violation of this Act or a rule or regulation adopted in
15accordance with this Act, shall be provided with a written
16description of the anticipated processing of the complaint,
17including investigation, case conference, potential civil and
18criminal penalties, and collection procedures.
19    (c) Each freelance worker and his or her authorized
20representative shall be notified in writing of any case
21conference before it is held and given the opportunity to
22attend.
23    (d) Each freelance worker and his or her authorized
24representative shall be notified in writing of any award and
25collection of civil penalties.
 

 

 

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1    Section 30. Powers and duties of the Director.
2    (a) The Director shall have the following powers and
3duties:
4        (1) The Director shall investigate and attempt to
5    adjust equitably controversies between freelance workers
6    and hiring parties relating to the provisions of this Act.
7        (2) The Director may take assignments of claims for
8    wages under this Act from freelance workers or third
9    parties in trust for such freelance workers or for the
10    benefit of various funds for such freelance workers. All
11    such assignments shall run to the Director and his or her
12    successor in office. The Director may sue hiring parties
13    on wage claims assigned to it, with the benefits and
14    subject to the provisions of existing law applying to
15    actions by freelance workers for the collection of wages.
16    The Director may join in a single action any number of wage
17    claims against the same hiring party.
18    (b)(1) The Director is authorized and empowered to enter
19into reciprocal agreements with the labor department or
20corresponding agency of any other state or with the person,
21board, officer, or commission authorized to act on behalf of
22the department or agency, for the collection in the other
23state of claims and judgments for wages based upon claims
24assigned to the Director.
25    (2) The Director may, to the extent provided for by any
26reciprocal agreement entered into by law or with any agency of

 

 

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1another state as provided in paragraph (1), maintain actions
2in the courts of the other state for the collection of claims
3and judgments for wages and may assign the claims and
4judgments to the labor department or agency of the other state
5for collection to the extent that an assignment may be
6permitted or provided for by the law of the other state or by
7reciprocal agreement.
8    (3) The Director may, upon the written consent of the
9labor department or other corresponding agency of any other
10state or of any person, board, officer, or commission of the
11state authorized to act on behalf of the labor department or
12corresponding agency, maintain actions in the courts of this
13State upon assigned claims and judgments for wages arising in
14the other state in the same manner and to the same extent that
15the actions by the Director are authorized when arising in
16this State. Actions may be maintained only in cases where the
17other state by law or reciprocal agreement extends a like
18comity to cases arising in this State.
19    (c) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as
20requiring the Director in every instance to investigate and
21attempt to adjust controversies, or to take assignments of
22wage claims.
 
23    Section 35. Civil actions brought by freelance workers.
24    (a) A freelance worker alleging a violation of this Act
25may bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction for

 

 

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1damages as follows:
2        (1) Any action alleging a violation of Section 15
3    shall be brought within 2 years after the acts alleged to
4    have violated this Act occurred. A freelance worker who
5    solely alleges a violation of Section 15 must prove that
6    he or she requested a written contract before the
7    contracted work began.
8        (2) Any action alleging a violation of Section 10 or
9    Section 20 shall be brought within 6 years after the acts
10    alleged to have violated this Act occurred.
11    (b) Within 10 days after having commenced a civil action
12under this Section, a freelance worker shall serve a copy of
13the complaint upon an authorized representative of the
14Director. Failure to serve a copy of the complaint to the
15Director does not adversely affect any freelance worker's
16cause of action.
17    (c)(1) A freelance worker who prevails on a claim alleging
18a violation of Section 10 shall be awarded damages equal to
19twice the amount of the contracted compensation, injunctive
20relief, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and other remedies
21as may be appropriate.
22    (2) A freelance worker who prevails on a claim alleging a
23violation of Section 15 shall be awarded statutory damages of
24$250.
25    (3) A freelance worker who prevails on a claim alleging a
26violation of Section 20 shall be awarded statutory damages

 

 

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1equal to the value of the underlying contract for each
2violation.
3    (4) A freelance worker who prevails on a claim alleging a
4violation of this Act and one or more claims alleging a
5violation of any other State law regarding wage payment shall
6be awarded statutory damages equal to the value of the
7underlying contract for the violation of this Act in addition
8to the remedies specified for the other wage payment
9violations.
10    
 
11    Section 40. Civil actions brought by the State.
12    (a) Where reasonable cause exists to believe that a hiring
13party is engaged in a pattern or practice of violations of this
14Act, the Attorney General may commence a civil action on
15behalf of the State in a court of competent jurisdiction. A
16civil action brought by the Attorney General under this
17paragraph shall be commenced by filing a complaint setting
18forth facts relating to such pattern or practice and
19requesting relief, which may include injunctive relief, civil
20penalties, and any other appropriate relief.
21    (b) Nothing in this Section prohibits:
22        (1) a person alleging a violation of this Act from
23    filing a civil action based on the same facts as a civil
24    action commenced by the Attorney General under this
25    Section; or

 

 

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1        (2) the Director from sending a notice of complaint,
2    unless otherwise barred from doing so.
3    (c) In any civil action commenced under this Section, the
4trier of fact may impose a civil penalty of not more than
5$25,000 for a finding that a hiring party has engaged in a
6pattern or practice of violations of this Act. Any civil
7penalty so recovered shall be paid into the General Revenue
8Fund.
 
9    Section 45. Scope of contracts.
10    (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, any provision of
11a contract purporting to waive rights under this Act is void as
12against public policy.
13    (b) The provisions of this Act supplement, and do not
14diminish or replace, any other basis of liability or
15requirement established by statute or common law.
16    (c) Failure to comply with the provisions of this Act does
17not render any contract between a hiring party and a freelance
18worker void or voidable or otherwise impair any obligation,
19claim, or right related to the contract or constitute a
20defense to any action or proceeding to enforce, or for breach
21of, the contract.
22    (d) No provision of this Act relating to freelance workers
23shall be construed as providing a determination about the
24legal classification of any such worker as an employee or
25independent contractor.
 

 

 

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1    Section 50. Public awareness campaign. The Department
2shall conduct a public awareness campaign, that shall include
3making information available on its website, otherwise
4informing hiring parties of the provisions of this Act, and
5establishing a means for assistance by a person through phone
6and email.
 
7    Section 55. Surveys; information collection; reporting
8requirements.
9    (a) No later than 6 months after the Director sends to a
10freelance worker either a hiring party's response and
11accompanying materials or a notice of non-response in
12accordance with this Act, the Director shall send the
13freelance worker a survey requesting additional information
14about the resolution of the freelance worker's claims. The
15survey shall ask whether or not the freelance worker pursued
16any such claims in court or through an alternative dispute
17resolution process and whether or not the hiring party
18ultimately paid any or all of the compensation the freelance
19worker alleged was due or if the matter was resolved in a
20different manner. The survey shall state clearly that response
21to the survey is voluntary.
22    (b) The Director shall collect and track information about
23complaints alleging violations of this Act. The information
24collected shall include, at minimum:

 

 

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1        (1) the identity of the hiring party alleged to have
2    violated this Act;
3        (2) the freelance worker's occupation;
4        (3) the Section of this Act that was alleged to have
5    been violated;
6        (4) the value of the contract;
7        (5) the response or non-response from the hiring
8    party; and
9        (6) information from a completed survey identified in
10    subsection (a).
11    (c) One year after the effective date of this Act, and
12every 5 years thereafter by November 1, the Director shall
13submit to the General Assembly and publish on its website a
14report regarding the effectiveness of the provisions of this
15Act at improving freelance contracting and payment practices.
16Such report shall include, at a minimum:
17        (1) the number of complaints the Director has received
18    in accordance with the provisions of this Act;
19        (2) the value of the contracts disaggregated into
20    ranges of $500 and by the Section of this Act allegedly
21    violated;
22        (3) the numbers of responses and non-responses
23    received by the Director disaggregated by contract value
24    into ranges of $500 and by the Section of this Act
25    allegedly violated;
26        (4) the proportion of surveys received from freelance

 

 

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1    workers that indicate that they pursued their claims in
2    court and the proportion of surveys received from
3    freelance workers that indicate that they pursued their
4    claims through an alternative dispute resolution process
5    and a summary of the outcomes of such cases; and
6        (5) legislative recommendations, including
7    consideration of whether certain occupations should be
8    exempted from the scope of the definition of "freelance
9    worker" in this Act.
 
10    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
11becoming law.