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By Max Rettig
Vice President, DoorDash
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Workers are looking for signs that Washington still has their backs, and a record majority of Americans are eager for the government to get more done. Fortunately, Congress has a rare opportunity to deliver something Americans want: the freedom to work how they choose, and the peace of mind that comes with greater security. This freedom would be a win for workers, for innovation, and for the country.
More Americans than ever are choosing earnings opportunities outside traditional nine-to-five jobs. In fact, as many as one in three Americans have engaged in independent work, including over 8 million people who used the DoorDash platform last year alone. These people often have another full-time job or responsibilities—whether they are small business owners, students, parents, or caregivers—and deliver just four hours per week on average. They tell us they choose app-based work for the freedom it offers.
But we at DoorDash also hear something else: those who deliver the most often want access to the kinds of benefits that offer a feeling of security. That includes things like health coverage if they suffer an unexpected illness, or extra savings to help them plan for retirement. They want benefits, but they don't want to give up the independence that drew them to this work in the first place.
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Unfortunately, under current law, that's exactly the choice they have to make. The fact is that companies like DoorDash would put the independence Dashers overwhelmingly want at risk by offering benefits that historically have been reserved for employees. It's time for that to change.
Policymaking in this space has often been paralyzed by false choices: you can be a traditional employee with employer-sponsored benefits, or an independent contractor with more flexibility but no benefits. That doesn't reflect the moment we live in or our modern economy. Why can't more workers have access to benefits, without sacrificing their flexibility?
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) recently introduced legislation that does just that. It, along with a similar House bill, would allow companies like ours to design programs and contribute to benefit funds for independent workers without putting their independent contractor status at risk for purposes of federal law. These bills would be a step in the right direction—a practical fix that would help us begin to meet more working people where they are.
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This approach is also a bipartisan one. During the last Congress, Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) offered a similar effort to "encourage experimentation at the state and local levels to support the realities of a 21st century workforce" through portable benefits.
At the state level, Republicans and Democrats alike are also working on this issue. DoorDash has worked with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Maryland Governor Wes Moore to launch first-of-their-kind pilots in their respective states, with promising early results. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, a bipartisan bill to make the state the first in the nation to offer a portable benefits program tailored to app-based workers recently passed, arriving soon on Governor Tony Evers' desk to await his signature.
The concept of portable benefits should galvanize policymakers regardless of party. It upholds worker freedom and choice, while finally bringing long-overdue innovation to our outdated rules. It extends more protections to more workers, as a way to support those who choose to do this kind of work more regularly. It should be no surprise, then, that when we asked Americans what they thought about portable benefits, a clear majority in both parties approved of the concept. Simply put: It's an idea whose time has come.
This idea is gaining momentum because it actually reflects what Dashers tell us they want and how they want to work. Ultimately, we hope to see a national portable benefits program. The legislation Congress is considering would represent meaningful progress towards that goal.
We don't have to treat our employment laws like they're etched in stone. After all, employer-sponsored health plans were once considered novel when they were first introduced back in the 1940s. The same could be said about retirement benefit plans when they came around in the 1970s. The time has come to once again rethink that model for a new generation of independent earners in 2025 and beyond.
Nothing could be more pro-worker than expanding access to benefits to more people, and doing it in a way that protects the flexibility they consistently say they need. Workers need Congress to step up, rise above politics, and put us on a path that better reflects how people actually live and work today. Let's hope they heed the call.
Max Rettig is Vice President and Global Head Of Public Policy at DoorDash.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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