Amd §§511, 160 & 651, Lab L; amd §201, Work Comp L
Relates to the employee status of an individual; establishes criteria for determining whether labor or services performed for remuneration qualify as employment.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3487
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 28, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, BRISPORT -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law and the workers' compensation law, in
relation to the employee status of an individual
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 1 of section 511 of
2 the labor law, as amended by chapter 607 of the laws of 1971, subpara-
3 graph 1-a of paragraph (b) as added by chapter 903 of the laws of 1986,
4 subparagraph 1-b of paragraph (b) as added by chapter 418 of the laws of
5 2010, subparagraph 1-c of paragraph (b) as added by chapter 558 of the
6 laws of 2013, and subparagraph 3 of paragraph (b) as added by chapter
7 668 of the laws of 1992, are amended to read as follows:
8 (a) any service under any contract of employment for hire, express or
9 implied, written, or oral; and
10 (b) (1) any service by a person providing labor or services for remun-
11 eration unless the hiring entity demonstrates that all of the following
12 conditions are satisfied:
13 (i) the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring
14 entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the
15 contract for the performance of the work and in fact; and
16 (ii) the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the
17 hiring entity's business; and
18 (iii) the person is customarily engaged in an independently estab-
19 lished trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that
20 involved in the work performed.
21 (2) for the purposes of this section, any person providing labor or
22 services for remuneration pursuant to subparagraph one of this paragraph
23 shall be considered an employee rather than an independent contractor;
24 and
25 (c) any service by a person for an employer:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03045-02-5
S. 3487 2
1 (1) as an agent-driver or commission-driver engaged in distributing
2 meat, vegetable, fruit, or bakery products; beverages other than milk;
3 or laundry or dry-cleaning services; or
4 (1-a) as a professional musician or a person otherwise engaged in the
5 performing arts, and performing services as such for a television or
6 radio station or network, a film production, a theatre, hotel, restau-
7 rant, night club or similar establishment unless, by written contract,
8 such musician or person is stipulated to be an employee of another
9 employer covered by this chapter. "Engaged in the performing arts" shall
10 mean performing services in connection with the production of or
11 performance in any artistic endeavor which requires artistic or techni-
12 cal skill or expertise; or
13 (1-b) as an employee in the construction industry unless the presump-
14 tion of employment can be overcome, as provided under section eight
15 hundred sixty-one-c of this chapter; or
16 (1-c) as an employee in the commercial goods transportation industry
17 unless the presumption of employment can be overcome, as provided under
18 section eight hundred sixty-two-b of this chapter; or
19 (2) as a traveling or city [salesman] salesperson engaged on a full-
20 time basis in soliciting orders for merchandise for resale or supplies
21 for use in the purchaser's business operations if the contract of
22 service contemplates that substantially all of such services are to be
23 performed personally by such person; such person does not have a
24 substantial investment in facilities used in connection with the
25 performance of such services, excepting facilities for transportation;
26 and the services are not in the nature of a single transaction which is
27 not part of a continuing relationship with the employer.
28 (3) as a professional model, where:
29 (i) the professional model performs modeling services for; or
30 (ii) consents in writing to the transfer of [his or her] such profes-
31 sional model's exclusive legal right to the use of [his or her] such
32 professional model's name, portrait, picture or image, for advertising
33 purposes or for the purposes of trade, directly to a retail store, a
34 manufacturer, an advertising agency, a photographer, a publishing compa-
35 ny or any other such person or entity, which dictates such professional
36 model's assignments, hours of work or performance locations and which
37 compensates such professional model in return for a waiver of [his or
38 her] such professional model's privacy rights enumerated above, unless
39 such services are performed pursuant to a written contract wherein it is
40 stated that the professional model is the employee of another employer
41 covered by this chapter. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term
42 "professional model" means a person who, in the course of [his or her]
43 such person's trade, occupation or profession, performs modeling
44 services. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term "modeling
45 services" means the appearance by a professional model in photographic
46 sessions or the engagement of such model in live, filmed or taped model-
47 ing performances for remuneration.
48 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 160 of the labor law, the opening para-
49 graph as amended by chapter 481 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read
50 as follows:
51 3. a. For all other employees, except those engaged in farm work and
52 those affected by subdivision four of section two hundred twenty of this
53 chapter, eight hours.
54 b. For the purposes of this subdivision, an individual providing labor
55 or services for remuneration has the status of an employee rather than
S. 3487 3
1 an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates all of
2 the following conditions:
3 (i) The individual is free from the control and direction of the
4 hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under
5 the contract for the performance of the work and in fact.
6 (ii) The individual performs work that is outside the usual course of
7 the hiring entity's business.
8 (iii) The individual is customarily engaged in an independently estab-
9 lished trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that
10 involved in the work performed.
11 c. This subdivision shall not prevent an agreement for overwork at an
12 increased compensation, except upon work by or for the state or a munic-
13 ipal corporation, or by contractors or subcontractors therewith, and
14 except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
15 § 3. Subdivision 5 of section 651 of the labor law is amended by
16 adding a new closing paragraph to read as follows:
17 Unless otherwise excluded by the provisions of this subdivision,
18 another provision of this chapter or by regulations promulgated by the
19 commissioner, an individual providing labor or services for remuneration
20 has the status of an employee rather than an independent contractor
21 unless the hiring entity demonstrates all of the following conditions:
22 (a) The individual is free from the control and direction of the
23 hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under
24 the contract for the performance of the work and in fact.
25 (b) The individual performs work that is outside the usual course of
26 the hiring entity's business.
27 (c) The individual is customarily engaged in an independently estab-
28 lished trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that
29 involved in the work performed.
30 § 4. Subdivision 6 of section 201 of the workers' compensation law is
31 amended by adding a new paragraph E to read as follows:
32 E. (A) The term "employment" includes, unless specifically excluded by
33 a provision of this subdivision, any service by a person providing labor
34 or services for remuneration unless the hiring entity demonstrates that
35 all of the following conditions are satisfied:
36 (i) the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring
37 entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the
38 contract for the performance of the work and in fact; and
39 (ii) the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the
40 hiring entity's business; and
41 (iii) the person is customarily engaged in an independently estab-
42 lished trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that
43 involved in the work performed.
44 (B) For the purposes of this section, any person providing labor or
45 services for remuneration pursuant to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph
46 shall be considered an employee rather than an independent contractor.
47 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
