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53	53	STATE OF OKLAHOMA
54	54
55	55	1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
56	56
57	57	SENATE BILL 31 By: Bergstrom
58	58
59	59
60	60
61	61
62	62
63	63	AS INTRODUCED
64	64
65	65	An Act relating to independent contractor
66	66	classification; creating the Uniform Worker
67	67	Classification Act; providing short title; stati ng
68	68	purpose; including and interpreting other provisions
69	69	of law; stating criteria to determine independent
70	70	contractor; requiring certain classification based on
71	71	criteria; construing right of principal to hi re
72	72	employee; requiring uniform classification of workers
73	73	within state; direct ing political subdivision to use
74	74	certain criteria to determine worker classification;
75	75	providing for codification; and providing an
76	76	effective date.
77	77
78	78
79	79
80	80
81	81	BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
82	82	SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
83	83	in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 720 of Title 40, unless there is
84	84	created a duplication in nu mbering, reads as follows:
85	85	This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Uniform Worker
86	86	Classification Act”.
87	87	SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
88	88	in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 720.1 of Title 40, unless there
89	89	is created a duplication in numb ering, reads as follows:
90	90
91	91
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141	141	The purpose of the Uniform Worker Classification Act is to bring
142	142	clarity, certainty, and uniformity under the laws of this state to
143	143	differentiate employees from independent contractors in employmen t
144	144	and to impose objective and uniform standard s for making that
145	145	distinction. All laws where the application thereof is contingent
146	146	upon the classification of a worker as being an employee are hereby
147	147	superseded and interpreted to the extent necessary by this act
148	148	including, but not limited to, any workers’ compensation,
149	149	unemployment compensation, wage, civil rights, and tort claims laws
150	150	codified in the statutes of this state.
151	151	SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to b e codified
152	152	in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 720.2 of Title 40, unless there
153	153	is created a duplicat ion in numbering, reads as follows:
154	154	A. Subject only to the provisions of subse ction B of this
155	155	section, a person shall be classified as an independent contractor
156	156	under the laws of this state including, but not limited to, those
157	157	laws codified in statute and identified in Section 1 of this act,
158	158	if:
159	159	1. The person signs a written contract w ith the principal, in
160	160	substantial compliance with the terms of this subsection, that
161	161	states the principal’s intent to retain the services of the person
162	162	as an independent cont ractor and contains acknowledgements that the
163	163	person understands that he or she is:
164	164
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215	215	a. providing services for the principal as an independent
216	216	contractor,
217	217	b. not going to be treated as an employee of the
218	218	principal,
219	219	c. not going to be provided by the principal with either
220	220	worker’s compensation or unemployment compensation
221	221	benefits,
222	222	d. obligated to pay all applicable federal and state
223	223	income taxes, if any, on any monies earned pursuant to
224	224	the contractual relationship, and that the principal
225	225	will not make any tax withholdings from any payments
226	226	from the principal, and
227	227	e. responsible for the majority of supplie s and other
228	228	variable expenses that he or she incurs in connection
229	229	with performing the contracted for services unless:
230	230	the expenses are for travel that i s not local, the
231	231	expenses are reimbursed under an express provision of
232	232	the contract, or the supplies or expenses reimbursed
233	233	are commonly reimbursed under industry practice ;
234	234	2. The person has either filed, intends to file , or is
235	235	contractually required to file, in regard to the fees earned from
236	236	the work, an income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service
237	237	(IRS) for a business or for earnings from self -employment, or
238	238	provides his or her servic es through a business entity including,
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290	290	but not limited to, a partnership, limited liability company or
291	291	corporation, or through a sole proprietorship registered with a DBA
292	292	as required under state or local law ;
293	293	3. With the exception of the exercise of contr ol necessary to
294	294	ensure compliance with statutory, regulatory, licensing, permi tting,
295	295	or other similar obligations required by a governmental or
296	296	regulatory entity, or to protect person s or property or to protect a
297	297	franchise brand, the person has the right to control the manner and
298	298	means by which the work is to be accomplished, even th ough he or she
299	299	may not have control over the final result of the work. This
300	300	provision is satisfied even though the principal may provide
301	301	orientation, information, guidance , or suggestions about the
302	302	principal’s products, business, services, customers and op erating
303	303	systems, and training otherwise required by law ;
304	304	4. The person satisfies three or more of the follow ing
305	305	criteria:
306	306	a. except for an agreement wi th the principal relating to
307	307	final completion or fin al delivery time or schedule,
308	308	range of work hours, or the time entertainment is to
309	309	be presented if the work contracted for is
310	310	entertainment, the person has control over the amount
311	311	of time personally spent providing services,
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363	363	b. except for services that can only be performed at
364	364	specific locations, the person has control over where
365	365	the services are performed , or
366	366	c. the person is not required to work exclusively for one
367	367	principal unless:
368	368	(1) a law, regulation, or ordinance prohibits the
369	369	person from providing s ervices to more than one
370	370	principal, or
371	371	(2) a license or permit that the person is required
372	372	to maintain in order to perform the work limits
373	373	the person to working for only one principal at a
374	374	time or requires identification o f the principal,
375	375	and
376	376	d. the person is free to exercise independent initiative
377	377	in soliciting others to purchase his or her services ,
378	378	and
379	379	e. the person is free to hire employees or to contract
380	380	with assistants, helpers, and/or substitutes to
381	381	perform all or some of the work;
382	382	5. The person cannot be required to perform additional services
383	383	without a new or modified contract;
384	384	6. The person obtains a license or other permission from the
385	385	principal to utilize any workspa ce of the principal in order to
386	386	perform the work for wh ich the person was engaged;
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438	438	7. The principal has been subject to an employm ent audit by the
439	439	Internal Revenue Service and the IRS has not reclassified the person
440	440	to be an employee or has not reclassified t he category of workers to
441	441	be employees;
442	442	8. The person is responsible for maintaining and bearing the
443	443	costs of any required b usiness licenses, insurance, certifications,
444	444	or permits required to perform the services ; or
445	445	9. The person meets the standards promulg ated by the Internal
446	446	Revenue Service for an independent contractor or is an incorporated
447	447	business entity.
448	448	B. All workers who do not satisfy the criteria set forth in
449	449	subsection A of this section shall be classified as employees . In
450	450	addition, nothing contained in subsection A of this section shall
451	451	require a principal to clas sify a worker who meets the criteria
452	452	contained therein as an independent contractor; the principal always
453	453	being free to hire the worker as an employee.
454	454	C. The state and its political subdivisions shall determine and
455	455	classify independent contractor status uniformly. Each political
456	456	subdivision shall utilize the provisions of this section to
457	457	determine independent contracto r status.
458	458	SECTION 4. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
459	459
460	460	59-1-174 MR 12/13/2022 2:37:30 PM

Oklahoma 2024 Regular Session

Oklahoma Senate Bill SB31 Compare Versions