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To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to harmonize the definition of employee with the common law.
Summary
This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to change how an "employee" is defined for purposes of federal wage and hour protections. The bill specifies that the definition of employee should be determined under "usual common law rules," which is a traditional legal test that considers factors such as the degree of control over the worker, independence, investment in tools or equipment, and the permanence of the working relationship. This change would replace or supplement other tests or standards currently used to determine employee status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The bill also makes a conforming amendment to clarify that "employ" includes "an employee."
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC] (R-SC)
2 cosponsors
- Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA] (R-LA)
- Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] (R-ND)
Actions (2)
- Jul 9, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. · senate
- Jul 9, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 9, 2025
Mr. Scott of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to harmonize the definition of employee with the common law.
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 “Modern Worker Empowerment Act”.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938 TO HARMONIZE THE DEFINITION OF EMPLOYEE.
(a) Definition of Employee.—Section 3(e)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(e)(1)) is amended by inserting before the period the following: “, as determined under the usual common law rules”.
(b) Definition of Employ.—Section 3(g) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(g)) is amended by inserting “an employee” after “permit”. <all>
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