119-s2488

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2488 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2488

 To promote transparency and accountability in covered digital labor 
 platform work, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 July 28, 2025

 Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Murphy, and Ms. Baldwin) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To promote transparency and accountability in covered digital labor 
 platform work, and for other purposes.

 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 ``Empowering App-Based Workers Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Millions of workers in the United States report to work 
 by logging on to digital labor platforms: software applications 
 (commonly known as ``apps'') that allocate and manage work.

    (2) Businesses are using digital labor platforms in a wide 
 and growing range of industries and occupations in the United 
 States. While the most well-known businesses using digital 
 labor platforms provide ride-hail and last-mile delivery 
 services, businesses in a variety of sectors, including large- 
 and low-paid sectors like retail, hospitality, warehousing, and 
 food services, increasingly manage labor via digital labor 
 platforms.

    (3) Platformed, or app-based, workers of all ages and every 
 race, ethnicity, gender, and immigration status can be found in 
 every State. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, app-
 based workers are disproportionately people of color, 
 comprising approximately 42 percent of the app-based workforce, 
 compared to 29 percent of the overall workforce. A 2021 Pew 
 Research poll of United States workers found that women (17 
 percent) were more likely than men (15 percent) to report that 
 they had ever done app-based work. The growing workforces of 
 businesses that use digital labor platforms to manage delivery 
 workers are majority women. Platform work is growing in 
 industries like retail, hospitality, warehousing, and food 
 services, in which people of color are overrepresented.

    (4) Government and academic research has found that app-
 based workers often receive poverty wages and few to no 
 benefits and are subject to wage theft and wage and employment 
 discrimination. A 2024 University of California at Berkeley 
 study of app-based ride-hail drivers in 5 metropolitan areas 
 found that a majority of drivers earn net pay that is 
 significantly less than the applicable minimum wage. Job 
 quality issues may be related to the frequent misclassification 
 of app-based workers as independent contractors who lack 
 employment-based rights and protections. Indeed, both courts 
 and regulatory agencies have found businesses that use digital 
 labor platforms to have misclassified employees as independent 
 contractors, stolen wages, and withheld benefits.

    (5) Research also shows that some businesses that use 
 digital labor platforms may be engaging in discriminatory 
 pricing practices, charging variable rates for the same 
 services based on particular characteristics of a consumer, and 
 setting personalized wages for the same work based on 
 characteristics of a worker.

    (6) Businesses use digital labor platforms to determine 
 access by an app-based worker to work assignments, the pay for 
 the assignments, and the prices charged to customers. Such 
 platforms often use electronic monitoring tools and automated 
 decision-making systems or algorithms, fed by a variety of 
 inputs, including data derived from workers and consumers.

    (7) The use of electronic monitoring tools and automated 
 decision-making systems is not exclusive to businesses that use 
 digital labor platforms. Other kinds of businesses do use them 
 but the heavy reliance by such businesses on these systems to 
 interface with workers and consumers is unique.

    (8) But while the electronic monitoring tools and automated 
 decision-making systems of businesses that use digital labor 
 platforms dictate the experience of workers and consumers on 
 digital labor platforms, their presence, purpose, and mechanics 
 are, too often, wholly opaque to workers, consumers, voters, 
 and policymakers. This opacity creates profound information 
 asymmetries between these groups and the corporations that own 
 or operate digital labor platforms.

    (9) The lack of information about the electronic monitoring 
 tools and automated decision-making systems used by businesses 
 that use digital labor platforms prevents workers, consumers, 
 and policymakers from understanding whether and to what extent 
 these systems are generating harms and facilitating the 
 violation of existing laws and regulations.

    (10) Unaccountable pay algorithms can enable various forms 
 of wage theft, such as minimum wage violations, tip-stealing, 
 routine undercounting of worktime, and illegal fees and 
 deductions, as well as discrimination based on protected class. 
 Forms of employer control obscured by algorithmic management 
 can enable independent contractor misclassification and create 
 insurmountable roadblocks to app-based workers' ability to 
 access minimum wage and overtime pay for all time worked, paid 
 sick leave, unemployment insurance benefits, workers' 
 compensation, protections from discrimination, and more.

    (11) Reliance on electronic monitoring tools and automated 
 decision-making systems that hide control and enable 
 misclassification of employees as independent contractors also 
 has profound implications for social welfare programs and 
 competing businesses. Businesses that misclassify employees as 
 independent contractors neglect to pay their share of employer 
 contributions for programs such as unemployment insurance and 
 social security. In total, a misclassifying business can save 
 up to 30 percent of its payroll costs by mislabeling a worker 
 as an independent contractor, which disadvantages responsible 
 employers.

    (12) The lack of transparency around pricing algorithms 
 allows businesses that use digital labor platforms to raise 
 prices on consumers under the guise of increasing labor and 
 regulatory costs. Businesses that use digital labor platforms 
 may use opaque pricing algorithms to determine the amount they 
 charge to customers for a service, as well as the share of that 
 fee that those businesses keep for themselves compared to the 
 share that goes to the app-based workers who provide the 
 service. The variable and opaque share of the consumer charge 
 that certain digital labor platform providers keep, versus the 
 share they pay an app-based workers (the ``take rate'') is 
 concerning.

    (13) The issue of fluctuating, opaque, and predatory take 
 rates is especially pronounced in the ride-hail industry, a 
 pioneer in the use of digital labor platforms. Initially, ride-
 hail companies paid app-based workers 90 percent of the 
 consumer charge, decreasing it to 80 percent as they attracted 
 more workers. Early take rates of 10 to 20 percent were styled 
 as ``service fees'' that drivers paid to access work through 
 the digital labor platform. Like commissions, if the ride-hail 
 companies increased their prices, workers likewise received a 
 raise.

    (14) Ride-hail companies later abandoned their commission-
 based service fee, and now set consumer prices independently of 
 app-based worker pay. Both prices and pay are largely 
 influenced by unaccountable hidden algorithms and automated 
 decision systems. They are also influenced by individualized 
 consumer and worker characteristics that offend notions of 
 equal pay for equal work and fair dealing.

    (15) App-based workers now report ride-hail companies 
 taking as much as 60 percent of the fare. A PowerSwitch Action 
 analysis of Uber fares in New York City and Chicago between 
 2019 and 2023 found that driver pay declined even as fares 
 charged to consumers increased because Uber's take rate also 
 increased.

    (16) Rising, unpredictable take rates and lower pay have 
 made ride-hail work an increasingly losing proposition. Workers 
 who provide what has become a growing and crucial 
 transportation service are entitled to transparent, consistent, 
 and fair pay for their work. A 25 percent cap on take rates in 
 the ride-hail industry will limit the most exploitative 
 algorithmic practices and help ensure the health and well-being 
 of more than a million U.S. workers. Since expenses and the 
 cost of living vary from market to market, the take rate cap in 
 this Act establishes a floor, not a ceiling, and does not 
 preempt any state or local efforts to establish take rate 
 standards that exceed that set forth herein.

    (17) Although the ride-hail industry has been an early 
 adopter of digital labor platform technologies, the public 
 needs to understand how all businesses that use digital labor 
 platforms utilize electronic monitoring tools and automated 
 decision-making systems so they may understand how this 
 unaccountable technology affects their lives. Without 
 transparency requirements around their use of electronic 
 monitoring tools and automated decision-making systems, 
 businesses that use digital labor platforms can exploit 
 information asymmetries to make false and unverifiable claims 
 about the potential impacts of proposed and existing public 
 policies.

    (18) Policymakers outside the United States have taken 
 steps to ensure that platforms operate with more transparency 
 and accountability. Multinational corporations like Amazon, 
 Uber, and DoorDash will soon be subject to various transparency 
 and reporting requirements in the European Union as countries 
 come into compliance with the European Union Platform Work 
 Directive. The United States must not be a global laggard when 
 it comes to platform regulation; workers, consumers, and the 
 public will suffer for it.

    (19) To ensure that app-based work is not an engine of 
 poverty and racial inequality that places downward pressure on 
 job quality across the economy, workers, consumers, 
 policymakers, and regulators must not be left in the dark about 
 the surveillance and labor management technologies that 
 businesses that use digital labor platforms are using.

    (20) All workers, businesses, and consumers in the United 
 States, stand to benefit from the establishment of clear rules 
 requiring transparency and accountability around the use of 
 electronic monitoring and automated decision-making systems by 
 businesses that use digital labor platforms to manage work.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Adverse action.--The term ``adverse action'' means an 
 action taken by a covered digital labor platform provider with 
 respect to an app-based worker that a reasonable person would 
 find negatively impacts the app-based worker's access to or 
 terms, conditions, or privileges of work, including fewer (by 
 volume or frequency) or less favorable work assignments or 
 offers, less or unfavorable hours or shifts, reduced access to 
 bonuses, incentives, or other benefits, temporary, permanent, 
 or indefinite suspension, deactivation or termination, 
 restriction of access to the platform, failure to promote, 
 failure to pay, and reductions in pay.

    (2) Aggregated app-based worker data.--The term 
 ``aggregated app-based worker data'' means data with respect to 
 multiple app-based workers that is combined or collected 
 together in a summary or other form that prevents the 
 identification of any specific app-based worker.

    (3) App-based worker.--The term ``app-based worker'', with 
 respect to a covered digital labor platform provider, means an 
 individual who performs work or provides services for 
 remuneration on or through the covered digital labor platform 
 of the covered digital labor platform provider, regardless of 
 whether the individual is compensated by the covered digital 
 labor platform provider or another person.

    (4) Applicant.--The term ``applicant'', with respect to a 
 covered digital labor platform, means an individual who has 
 signed up for, applied for, activated, or created an account in 
 order to provide services on or through the covered digital 
 labor platform of a covered digital labor platform provider as 
 an app-based worker but has not yet been approved for or 
 offered work through the covered digital labor platform.

    (5) Attribute.--The term ``attribute'' includes, as 
 applicable, the tenure, demographics, reviews, acceptance rate, 
 part-time status, average weekly hours, and location of an app-
 based worker.

    (6) Authorized agent.--The term ``authorized agent'' means 
 a person (other than a covered digital labor platform provider 
 or a vendor or affiliated person of the provider) that an app-
 based worker has authorized to receive disclosures from a 
 covered digital labor platform in accordance with 

section 7, 
 including a labor organization.

    (7) Automated decision system.--
        (A) In general.--The term ``automated decision 
 system'' means any tool, software, system, process, 
 function, program, method, model, or formula using, or 
 designed with, computation to issue an automated 
 decision system output that is used to augment, assist, 
 or replace human judgment, decision making, or policy 
 implementation.
        (B) Exclusions.--Notwithstanding subparagraph
        (A) , 
 the term ``automated decision system'' does not include 
 any spam email filter, firewall, antivirus software, 
 calculator, database, dataset, or other compilation of 
 data.

    (8) Automated decision system output.--The term ``automated 
 decision system output'' means any information, data, 
 assumption, prediction, scoring, classification, 
 recommendation, decision, or conclusion generated by an 
 automated decision system.

    (9) Commerce; person.--The terms ``commerce'' and 
 ``person'' have the meanings given the terms in 

section 3 of 
 the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203).

    (10) Covered digital labor platform.--
        (A) In general.--The term ``covered digital labor 
 platform'' means a platform provided, offered, or used 
 by a covered digital labor platform provider that--
            (i) is provided, at least in part, through 
 electronic means such as an online-enabled 
 application, internet site, or mobile 
 application;
            (ii) provides services performed by an app-
 based worker at the request of a consumer;
            (iii) involves the facilitation of work to 
 be performed by an individual in exchange for 
 payment, regardless of whether such work is 
 performed online or in a certain geographic 
 location; and
            (iv) involves the use of an automated 
 decision-making system or electronic monitoring 
 tool.
        (B) Exclusions.--
            (i) In general.--Notwithstanding 
 subparagraph
        (A) , the term ``covered digital 
 labor platform'' does not include--
            (I) any platform that--

    (aa) only provides the 
 means by which service 
 providers can reach an end-
 user, customer, or recipient, 
 without involvement of the 
 platform in the terms or 
 conditions of the work; or

    (bb) only organizes the 
 activities of volunteers; or
            (II) any platform that has the 
 primary purpose of exploiting or 
 sharing real property assets for short-
 term accommodations or that allows an 
 individual who is not a professional to 
 resell goods.
            (ii) Burden of proof.--A person providing, 
 offering, or using a platform that the person 
 believes is a platform described in subclause
            (I) or
            (II) shall have the burden of proof to 
 establish that the platform is a platform 
 described in such a subclause for purposes of 
 any enforcement activity taken under 

section 9.

    (11) Covered digital labor platform provider.--The term 
 ``covered digital labor platform provider''--
        (A) means a person engaged in commerce or an 
 industry affecting commerce that employs an app-based 
 worker to perform work or provide services for 
 remuneration on or through the covered digital labor 
 platform of the person, or that otherwise engages, 
 arranges, or facilitates the performance of such work 
 or provision of such services, regardless of whether 
 the app-based worker is compensated by such person or 
 another person; and
        (B) includes any successor in interest of such 
 person and any person who acts directly or indirectly 
 in the interest of the covered digital labor platform 
 provider in relation to an app-based worker.

    (12) Data.--The term ``data'', used with respect to an app-
 based worker, means any information that identifies, relates 
 to, describes, or could reasonably be linked, directly or 
 indirectly, with a particular app-based worker, regardless of 
 how the information is collected, inferred, or obtained, 
 including the following:
        (A) Personal identity information and 
 characteristics, such as the app-based worker's name, 
 address or other contact information, demographic 
 information, government-issued identification number, 
 citizenship and familial status, criminal background, 
 employment history, financial history, health status or 
 history, and information regarding immutable 
 characteristics.
        (B) Any data related to the work activities of an 
 app-based worker.
            (C) Online information with respect to the app-
 based worker, including any internet protocol address 
 used by, social media activity of, or other digital 
 sources or unique identifiers associated with the app-
 based worker.
            (D) Individual behavior or preferences, including 
 observable or measurable actions, habits, preferences, 
 interests, or vulnerabilities, including the 
 individual's political, personal, or professional 
 affiliations, web browsing history, purchase history, 
 financial circumstances, or consumer behaviors.
        (E) Biometric information, including imagery of the 
 iris, retina, fingerprint, face, hand, palm, vein 
 patterns, and voice recordings, from which an 
 identifier template, such as a faceprint, a minutiae 
 template, or a voiceprint, can be extracted, and 
 keystroke patterns or rhythms, gait patterns or 
 rhythms, and sleep, health, or exercise data that 
 contain identifying information.
        (F) Inferences drawn from any of the data described 
 in this paragraph, including internally generated 
 inferences, or worker profiles generated by inferences, 
 by or for the covered digital labor platform provider.

    (13) Electronic monitoring tool.--The term ``electronic 
 monitoring tool'' means any system, application, or instrument 
 that facilitates the collection of data concerning the 
 activities, communications, actions, biometrics, attributes, or 
 behaviors of an app-based worker by any means other than direct 
 observation by another individual, including through the use of 
 a computer, telephone, wire, radio, camera, electromagnetic, 
 photoelectronic, or photo-optical system.

    (14) Employ.--The term ``employ'' has the meaning given 
 such term in 

section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
 (29 U.S.C. 203).

    (15) Labor organization.--The term ``labor organization'' 
 means--
        (A) a labor organization, as such term is defined 
 in 

section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 
 U.S.C. 152); or
        (B) the collective bargaining representative of a 
 craft or class of employees for purposes of the Railway 
 Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).

    (16) Individualized.--The term ``individualized'' means 
 data described in subparagraph
        (A) ,
            (C) ,
            (D) ,
        (E) , or
        (F) of 
 paragraph

    (12) that is--
        (A) specific to a specific app-based worker or 
 group, band, class, or tier of app-based workers; or
        (B) inferred about a specific app-based worker or 
 group, band, class, or tier of app-based workers based 
 on other such data.

    (17) On-demand.--The term ``on-demand'' means a service 
 available to a waiting, time-sensitive consumer after the 
 consumer makes a request or places an order for such service 
 via a covered digital labor platform.

    (18) Predispute arbitration agreement.--The term 
 ``predispute arbitration agreement'' means any agreement to 
 arbitrate a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the 
 making of the agreement.

    (19) Predispute joint-action waiver.--The term ``predispute 
 joint-action waiver'' means an agreement, including as part of 
 a predispute arbitration agreement, that would prohibit, or 
 waive the right of, one of the parties to the agreement to 
 participate in a joint, class, or collective action in a 
 judicial, arbitral, administrative, or other forum, concerning 
 a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the making of 
 the agreement.

    (20) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
 of Labor.

    (21) Take rate.--The term ``take rate'', with respect to a 
 covered digital labor platform provider that offers a consumer 
 any on-demand transportation services, means the percentage of 
 the total amount such a covered digital labor platform provider 
 charges to a consumer for such a service provided on or through 
 the covered digital labor platform, exclusive of any tip, that 
 is not paid to an app-based worker as remuneration with respect 
 to that service.

    (22) Time on task.--The term ``time on task'', with respect 
 to an app-based worker performing on-demand services, means an 
 amount of time that begins when an app-based worker is assigned 
 or accepts a work assignment on a covered digital labor 
 platform for the performance of a service and ends when--
        (A) the work assignment is completed; or
        (B) the work assignment is cancelled.

    (23) Time worked.--The term ``time worked''--
        (A) with respect to an app-based worker providing 
 on-demand services, includes all time that an app-based 
 worker is logged into a covered digital labor platform 
 and available to perform services on or through the 
 covered digital labor platform; and
        (B) with respect to an app-based worker who works 
 shifts or blocks of time that are in any way scheduled 
 in advance of performing the work, includes all time 
 from when the app-based worker reports to work through 
 the completion of assigned tasks or shift work, as 
 further defined and delimited in regulations by the 
 Secretary.

    (24) Vendor.--The term ``vendor'' means any entity or other 
 third party engaged by a covered digital labor platform 
 provider (or by any contractor of the covered digital labor 
 platform provider) to provide software, technology, or any 
 related service that is used to collect, store, analyze, or 
 interpret app-based worker data.

    (25) Work assignment.--The term ``work assignment'' means 
 an assignment or offer on a covered digital labor platform to 
 provide services for a consumer that is assigned to or accepted 
 by an app-based worker for the performance of services with 
 respect to that assignment or offer.

    (26) Work-related decision.--The term ``work-related 
 decision'' means any decision made by a covered digital labor 
 platform provider with respect to--
        (A) hiring, engaging, or promoting an app-based 
 worker;
        (B) taking an adverse action against an app-based 
 worker; or
            (C) the terms, privileges, or conditions of the 
 work of an app-based worker, including a decision that 
 affects or could affect the pay, the benefits, other 
 compensation, the schedule of work, the hours of work, 
 an evaluation, a performance rating, the job content, 
 an assignment of work, the access to work, the 
 productivity requirements, or the workplace health and 
 safety of the app-based worker.

SEC. 4. TRANSPARENCY.

    (a) Disclosures to Workers.--

    (1) Notice of electronic monitoring and automated decision 
 systems.--
        (A) In general.--A covered digital labor platform 
 provider that uses or intends to use an electronic 
 monitoring tool or automated decision system shall, in 
 accordance with subparagraph
        (B) , provide to each app-
 based worker and applicant of the covered digital labor 
 platform provider who is, or will be, subject to the 
 electronic monitoring tool or automated decision system 
 a notice that provides--
            (i) a description of how any electronic 
 monitoring tool or automated decision system 
 will be used by the covered digital labor 
 platform provider;
            (ii) a description of the data intended to 
 be or actually collected by the electronic 
 monitoring tool or used in an automated 
 decision system;
            (iii) in the case of the use of an 
 electronic monitoring tool--
            (I) a description of any activity, 
 location, communication, task, or job 
 role that will be electronically 
 monitored by the electronic monitoring 
 tool;
            (II) whether, how, and what data 
 collected using the electronic 
 monitoring tool will be used as an 
 input in an automated decision system;
            (III) whether, how, and what data 
 collected using an electronic 
 monitoring tool will be used (whether 
 used with or without an automated 
 decision system) to make, or assist in 
 making, decisions regarding the 
 compensation of an app-based worker or 
 applicant and offers or assignments of 
 work for the app-based worker or 
 applicant; and
            (IV) a description of where any 
 data collected by the electronic 
 monitoring tool will be stored, the 
 length of time the data will be 
 retained, who may access the data, and 
 how the data may be accessed by a 
 person who is authorized to access the 
 data;
            (iv) in the case of the use of an automated 
 decision system--
            (I) a description of the methods, 
 processes, inputs, attributes, and data 
 that the covered digital labor platform 
 provider uses or intends to use, 
 through the automated decision system, 
 to determine or assist in determining 
 the compensation of the app-based 
 worker or applicant, including pay 
 rates, assignments, bonuses, or other 
 benefits; and
            (II) a description of the 
 categories of data and the main 
 parameters of that data for the 
 automated decision system and the 
 relative importance and weights of the 
 main parameters in the automated 
 decision system for purposes of 
 creating inferences or making work-
 related decisions regarding the app-
 based worker or applicant, including 
 how data regarding the app-based worker 
 or applicant (including regarding 
 attributes of the worker or applicant) 
 will influence automated decision 
 system outputs or the outcome of any 
 work-related decision and whether (and, 
 if so, how) the automated decision 
 system outputs will be individualized 
 for the app-based worker or applicant;
            (v) the methods, processes, inputs, 
 attributes, or data by which the covered 
 digital labor platform provider determines the 
 amount charged to a consumer for any good or 
 service provided through the covered digital 
 labor platform and the relative weights of such 
 methods, processes, inputs, attributes, or data 
 in such determination;
            (vi) the methods, processes, inputs, 
 attributes, or data by which the covered 
 digital labor platform provider determines how, 
 whether, and when to provide the app-based 
 worker with a work assignment and what work 
 assignment the covered digital labor platform 
 provider will offer or provide to the app-based 
 worker; and
            (vii) the specific grounds, conditions, and 
 reasons for which a covered digital labor 
 platform provider may take any adverse action 
 with respect to the app-based worker.
        (B) Timing.--A notice under subparagraph
        (A) shall 
 be provided--
            (i) with respect to any applicant, at a 
 time that is after the applicant has signed up 
 for, applied for, activated, or created an 
 account and before the applicant performs any 
 work or provides any service for remuneration 
 for the covered digital labor platform provider 
 or on or through a covered digital labor 
 platform;
            (ii) with respect to an app-based worker--
            (I) for any electronic monitoring 
 tool or automated decision system that 
 is in effect on the day before the date 
 of enactment of this Act, not later 
 than the later of--

    (aa) 30 days after the date 
 on which a final rule to carry 
 out this section takes effect; 
 or

    (bb) 180 days after the 
 date of enactment of this Act; 
 or
            (II) for any other electronic 
 monitoring tool or automated decision 
 system, as soon as practicable, but not 
 less than 96 hours before the 
 electronic monitoring tool or automated 
 decision system takes effect with 
 respect to that app-base worker;
            (iii) annually to each app-based worker who 
 performed work on or through the covered 
 digital labor platform of the covered digital 
 labor platform provider during the year 
 preceding the date the notice is provided;
            (iv) in the app-based worker's primary 
 language; and
            (v) to an app-based worker or applicant not 
 later than 5 business days after any request by 
 the app-based worker or applicant.

    (2) Comprehensive and detailed use notice.--
        (A) In general.--A covered digital labor platform 
 provider that uses an electronic monitoring tool or 
 automated decision system to make or assist in making a 
 work-related decision with respect to an app-based 
 worker that substantially impacts the compensation or 
 work assignments of the app-based worker or the access 
 of the app-based worker to the covered digital labor 
 platform shall, as described in subparagraph
        (B) , 
 provide to the app-based worker a notice that 
 includes--
            (i) a description of the data and 
 attributes used in the work-related decision 
 with respect to the app-based worker;
            (ii) in the case of the use of an automated 
 decision system, a description of the inputs 
 for the automated decision system and the 
 weight of each for purposes of the work-related 
 decision, the automated decision system outputs 
 with respect to that work-related decision, and 
 the method by which the worker can obtain the 
 range of possible outputs, including aggregate 
 output statistics; and
            (iii) the metadata used for the work-
 related decision, including for each variable 
 of the metadata the name, attribute, value, 
 what the variable captures, and examples of the 
 values it captures.
        (B) Timing.--A notice under subparagraph
        (A) shall 
 be provided to an app-based worker--
            (i) not later than 5 business days after 
 the initial request by the app-based worker for 
 the notice; and
            (ii) if the app-based worker requests 
 subsequent notices on an ongoing basis, not 
 more than 48 hours after the covered digital 
 labor platform provider uses an electronic 
 monitoring tool or automated decision system 
 with respect to the app-based worker as 
 provided in subparagraph
        (A) .

    (3) Additional disclosures.--Before the first time that an 
 app-based worker performs any work or provides any service for 
 remuneration on or through a covered digital labor platform or, 
 in the case of an app-based worker who has already performed 
 such work or provided such services on or before the date of 
 enactment of this Act, not later than 365 days after the date 
 of enactment of this Act, the covered digital labor platform 
 provider shall notify the app-based worker of--
        (A) all required disclosures and the obligations of 
 the covered digital labor platform under this Act; and
        (B) all other applicable minimum pay and benefits 
 standards that apply to the app-based worker.

    (4) Itemized receipts.--
        (A) In general.--At the end of each work assignment 
 of an app-based worker, the covered digital labor 
 platform provider shall disclose to the app-based 
 worker each component of the pay of the app-based 
 worker, including, to the extent applicable and as 
 further defined and delimited through regulations 
 promulgated by the Secretary--
            (i) the total amount paid by the consumer 
 to the covered digital labor platform provider 
 for the work assignment performed by the app-
 based worker exclusive of any tip provided to 
 the app-based worker as described in clause
            (ii) ;
            (ii) the amount of any tip paid by the 
 consumer through the covered digital labor 
 platform provider as gratuity for the work of 
 the app-based worker;
            (iii) the amount paid to the app-based 
 worker by the covered digital labor platform 
 provider excluding the tip described in clause
            (ii) and any reimbursement by the provider of 
 costs incurred by the app-based worker;
            (iv) the take rate for the work assignment;
            (v) the total distance traveled by the app-
 based worker for the work assignment in miles;
            (vi) whether the work assignment 
 contributed to or was related to a bonus or 
 other incentive for the app-based worker;
            (vii) total time worked by the app-based 
 worker for the work assignment; and
            (viii) information on whether that work 
 assignment was offered to any other app-based 
 worker, and if so, the amount of compensation 
 offered to the other app-based worker.
        (B) Update of disclosure.--A covered digital labor 
 platform provider that provides a disclosure under 
 subparagraph
        (A) may update the disclosure for a period 
 of not more than 48 hours after the disclosure is 
 provided to the app-based worker.

    (5) Weekly pay statements.--Not less often than once a 
 week, each covered digital labor platform provider shall 
 disclose to each app-based worker of the covered digital labor 
 platform provider each component of pay of the app-based worker 
 for the week (referred to in this paragraph as the ``covered 
 week''), including, to the extent applicable and as further 
 defined and delimited through regulations promulgated by the 
 Secretary--
        (A) the total amount paid to the app-based worker 
 by the covered digital labor platform provider during 
 the covered week excluding the amount of any tips paid 
 to the app-based worker and any reimbursement by the 
 provider of costs incurred by the app-based worker;
        (B) the total amount paid to the covered digital 
 labor platform provider for all work assignments by the 
 app-based worker during the covered week by all 
 consumers, excluding any tips paid to the app-based 
 worker;
            (C) the weekly average take rate for all consumer 
 payments for all work assignments of the app-based 
 worker;
            (D) the total amount of tips paid by consumers to 
 the app-based worker for work assignments in the 
 covered week;
        (E) the total amount of compensation paid by the 
 covered digital labor platform provider to the app-
 based worker for work assignments in the covered week, 
 including any amount provided as a tip;
        (F) the number of work assignments completed by the 
 app-based worker in the covered week;
        (G) the total amount of time on task by the app-
 based worker in the covered week;
        (H) the total time worked by the app-based worker 
 in the covered week;
            (I) the hourly wage of the app-based worker, 
 expressed as the ratio of the amount described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) to the amount of time described in 
 subparagraph
        (H) ;
        (J) the total miles traveled for time worked and 
 time on task by the app-based worker in the covered 
 week; and
        (K) for each work assignment offered by the covered 
 digital labor platform provider to the app-based worker 
 that was not completed by the app-based worker in the 
 covered week, the amount of compensation offered.

    (6) Format.--Each notice, disclosure, or notification under 
 this subsection shall be provided in the form and manner 
 described in regulation by the Secretary, including that the 
 notice, disclosure, or notification is provided--
        (A) in an electronic document that is machine 
 readable;
        (B) in an easily accessible form, including on the 
 account of an app-based worker or applicant (regardless 
 of whether the covered digital labor platform provider 
 has deactivated, suspended, or terminated the app-based 
 worker) or posted on the covered digital labor 
 platform, and available to download;
            (C) in a manner that enables the app-based worker 
 or applicant to read, review, save, and reasonably 
 access the notice, disclosure, or notification for not 
 less than 48 months after the date on which the notice, 
 disclosure, or notification was provided;
            (D) in a manner that ensures the information in the 
 notice, disclosure, or notification is clearly and 
 effectively communicated, including in the language the 
 app-based worker identifies as their primary language; 
 and
        (E) as applicable, through a posting on the covered 
 digital labor platform in English and any other 
 language that more than 20 percent of app-based workers 
 of the relevant covered digital labor platform provider 
 identify as their primary language.

    (b) Disclosures to Consumers.--At the end of each work assignment 
of an app-based worker, the covered digital labor platform provider 
shall disclose, through electronic correspondence, to the consumer with 
respect to the work assignment, to the extent applicable and as further 
defined and delimited through regulations promulgated by the 
Secretary--

    (1) the total amount paid by the consumer for the work 
 assignment, excluding any tip;

    (2) the amount added as a tip from the consumer and any 
 reimbursement by the provider of costs incurred by the app-
 based worker;

    (3) the amounts paid to the app-based worker by the covered 
 digital labor platform provider, excluding the amount described 
 in paragraph

    (2) ; and

    (4) the take rate for the work-assignment.
            (c) Additional Disclosures.--

    (1) Reporting to the agency.--On a quarterly basis and in 
 accordance with any rule prescribed by the Secretary, each 
 covered digital labor platform provider shall electronically 
 disclose to the Secretary--
        (A) copies of the notices required under subsection

    (a)

    (1) ;
        (B) aggregated app-based worker data regarding the 
 information required to be provided to all app-based 
 workers of the covered digital platform provider 
 through the disclosures under subsection

    (a)

    (5) during 
 the relevant quarter;
            (C) the aggregated app-based worker data described 
 under subparagraph
        (B) , disaggregated by State and by 
 certain metropolitan statistical areas (as identified 
 by the Office of Management and Budget) selected, 
 through regulations by the Secretary, based on 
 geographic distribution across the regions of the 
 United States, including in the Northeast, South, 
 Midwest, and West;
            (D) the demographic data of app-based workers who 
 completed a work assignment during the relevant 
 quarter, based on self-reporting by app-based workers, 
 as described in 

section 5

    (b) ;
        (E) hourly wage data for app-based workers 
 disaggregated by worker demographic; and
        (F) any fees charged by the covered digital labor 
 platform provider to an app-based worker in order to 
 perform work, receive compensation for work, or provide 
 services on or through the covered digital labor 
 platform.

    (2) Publication.--
        (A) Publication by covered digital labor platform 
 provider.--Each covered digital labor platform provider 
 shall publish the data disclosed under paragraph

    (1) , 
 in an anonymized manner, on a public internet website 
 of the covered digital labor platform provider in a 
 machine readable and searchable format.
        (B) Publication by secretary.--Not later than 
 February 15 of each year, the Secretary shall make the 
 data disclosed under paragraph

    (1) for the preceding 
 calendar year, available to the public, which shall 
 include posting the information, in an anonymized 
 manner, on a public internet website of the Secretary 
 in a searchable and downloadable format.
            (C) Regulations.--The Secretary shall issue 
 regulations detailing and defining requirements with 
 respect to the publications under subparagraphs
        (A) and
        (B) to ensure the accessibility and usability of the 
 information in the publications and protect the 
 anonymity of each app-based worker.

SEC. 5. ACCOUNTABILITY.

    (a) Take Rate Cap.--

    (1) In general.--A covered digital labor platform provider 
 that offers a consumer on-demand transportation services may 
 not charge in excess of a 25 percent take rate for such 
 service.

    (2) Take rate offset limitation.--A covered digital labor 
 platform provider described in paragraph

    (1) may not impose a 
 fee on an app-based worker unless the ratio of the amount that 
 is paid by a consumer (exclusive of any tip) with respect to a 
 work assignment and is not provided to an app-based worker as 
 remuneration to the amount that is the total amount paid by the 
 consumer (exclusive of any tip) with respect to such work 
 assignment plus the amount of such fee (or a pro rata amount of 
 such fee if the fee is paid in a lump sum) is not more than 25 
 percent.

    (b) Request for Voluntary Disclosures.--Notwithstanding subsection
            (d) , a covered digital labor platform provider shall provide every app-
based worker of the covered digital labor platform provider an 
opportunity to disclose, subject to regulations promulgated by the 
Secretary in consultation with the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission, demographic data in a manner that protects the privacy of 
the app-based worker.
            (c) Individualized Algorithmic Wage Setting.--

    (1) Equal pay for equal work.--A covered digital labor 
 platform provider may not offer an amount of compensation for a 
 work assignment to an app-based worker that is different than 
 the amount of compensation that was offered to another app-
 based worker for any substantially similar or comparable tasks 
 unless the covered digital labor platform provider can clearly 
 demonstrate that the difference in offered compensation is--
        (A) based on cost differentials between the 
 specific workers for performing the tasks involved in 
 the work assignment; or
        (B) otherwise required by a collective bargaining 
 agreement that applies to the app-based worker or the 
 other app-based worker.

    (2) Surveillance wage setting.--A covered digital labor 
 platform provider may not use individualized data with respect 
 to an app-based worker as an input in an automated decision 
 system for purposes of informing compensation decisions for 
 work assignments for the app-based worker or use any automated 
 decision system output for such purposes if the output relied 
 on or included such individualized data, unless the covered 
 digital labor platform provider can clearly demonstrate that--
        (A)
            (i) any difference between the amount of 
 compensation offered for the work assignment and the 
 amount of compensation that was offered to another app-
 based worker for any substantially similar or 
 comparable tasks is, in accordance with paragraph

    (1)
        (A) , based on cost differentials between the 
 specific workers for performing the tasks involved in 
 the work assignment; and
            (ii) such data is directly related to the tasks 
 involved in the work assignment; or
        (B) any difference between the amount of 
 compensation offered for the work assignment and the 
 amount of compensation that was offered to another app-
 based worker for any substantially similar or 
 comparable tasks is, in accordance with paragraph

    (1)
        (B) , otherwise required by a collective bargaining 
 agreement that applies to the app-based worker or the 
 other app-based worker.

    (3) Exception.--This subsection shall not apply with 
 respect to an app-based worker of a covered digital labor 
 platform provider if the covered digital labor platform 
 provider plays no role in setting or determining--
        (A) the pay rate of the app-based worker; and
        (B) the amount charged to a consumer for services 
 provided by the app-based worker.
            (d) Data Processing Limitations.--A covered digital labor platform 
provider may not--

    (1) use electronic monitoring, an automated decision 
 system, or worker data to infer immigration status, political 
 opinion, religious or philosophical beliefs, disability status, 
 health status or history, emotional or psychological state, 
 sexual or gender orientation, or union sympathy or likelihood 
 of organizing or otherwise asserting rights; or

    (2) collect an app-based worker's data other than during 
 time worked for the covered digital platform provider.

    (e) Limiting Deceptive Patterns.--A covered digital labor platform 
provider may not use any platform interface that contains unfair, 
covert, or deceptive information regarding compensation, including on 
the eligibility for bonuses, or that obscures or delays an app-based 
worker's access to such information regarding compensation in a manner 
that inhibits the worker's ability to make an informed decision about 
whether or how to perform work or provide services for remuneration on 
or through the covered digital labor platform of the covered digital 
labor platform provider.

SEC. 6. DATA PRESERVATION.

    (a) In General.--A covered digital labor platform provider and each 
vendor of the covered digital labor platform provider--

    (1) shall retain for 4 years contemporaneous records of any 
 data regarding an app-based worker that is collected using an 
 electronic monitoring tool or used as an automated decision 
 system input;

    (2) may not sell, transfer, or disclose app-based worker 
 data collected via an electronic monitoring tool or used as an 
 automated decision system input to any other entity unless the 
 sale, transfer, or disclosure is--
        (A) pursuant to a request from an authorized agent 
 of an app-based worker of the covered digital labor 
 platform provider regarding the data of the app-based 
 worker; or
        (B) is otherwise required under State or Federal 
 law and the covered digital labor platform provides 
 notice to the app-based worker; and

    (3) shall collect, process, store, and retain all data 
 regarding an app-based worker in a manner that protects the 
 privacy of the app-based worker (including protection from 
 unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or 
 disclosure) and in accordance with any regulation promulgated 
 by the Secretary.

    (b) Disclosure.--Except as otherwise provided under 

section 4

    (a)

    (2)
        (B) with respect to a comprehensive and detailed use notice, a 
covered digital labor platform provider or vendor of the covered 
digital labor platform provider shall provide any data retained in 
accordance with this subsection with respect to an app-based worker or 
an individual who was an app-based worker to the app-based worker, 
individual, or authorized agent of the app-based worker not more than 5 
business days after the covered digital labor platform provider or 
vendor receives the request from the app-based worker, individual, or 
authorized agent.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZED AGENT AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--Pursuant to regulations issued by the Secretary, 
an app-based worker may, in writing, authorize a person to be the 
authorized agent of the app-based worker for purposes of receiving any 
required disclosure or notice from a covered digital labor platform 
provider under paragraphs

    (1) ,

    (2) ,

    (4) , and

    (5) of 

section 4

    (a) or 

section 6

    (b) as if the authorized agent was the app-based worker.

    (b) Treatment of an Authorized Agent.--

    (1) In general.--With respect to an app-based worker who 
 authorizes an authorized agent under subsection

    (a) , the 
 covered digital labor platform provider of the app-based worker 
 shall provide an additional copy of each notice or disclosure 
 described in such subsection to the authorized agent at the 
 time such notice or disclosure is due to the app-based worker 
 and upon request by the authorized agent.

    (2) Information requests.--A covered digital labor platform 
 provider shall--
        (A) provide a designated email address, which is 
 prominently displayed on its website, to which an 
 authorized agent can submit a request for a notice or 
 disclosure described in subsection

    (a) ; and
        (B) provide the notice or disclosure--
            (i) not later than 10 business days after 
 an initial request is submitted; and
            (ii) thereafter, if applicable, at the same 
 time any such disclosure or notice would 
 otherwise be due to the app-based worker.
            (c) Privacy Requirements for an Authorized Agent.--An authorized 
agent authorized under subsection

    (a) may not use any personal 
information regarding an app-based worker, or any other information 
collected from or about the app-based worker, for any purposes other 
than the purposes specified in the written authorization of the app-
based worker.
            (d) Notification of Subpoena.--

    (1) In general.--An authorized agent authorized under 
 subsection

    (a) may not disclose any information received from a 
 covered digital labor platform with respect to an app-based 
 worker to any government entity unless required to do so by a 
 subpoena or other court order compelling production of such 
 information.

    (2) Disclosure.--An authorized agent that is required to 
 produce information to a government entity as described in 
 paragraph

    (1) shall notify the app-based worker who authorized 
 the agent to receive such information.

SEC. 8. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS.

    (a) In General.--A covered digital labor platform provider may not 
discriminate or retaliate (including through intimidation, threats, 
coercion, deactivation, diminishment of compensation or access to the 
covered digital labor platform or work assignments, or harassment) 
against any app-based worker--

    (1) for exercising, or attempting to exercise, any right 
 provided under this Act; or

    (2) because the app-based worker (or another individual 
 acting at the request of the app-based worker or an authorized 
 agent of the app-based worker) has--
        (A) filed a written or oral complaint to the 
 covered digital labor platform provider, or a Federal, 
 State, or local government entity of a violation of 
 

section 4, 5, or 6;
        (B) instituted, caused to be instituted, or 
 otherwise participated in any inquiry or proceeding 
 under or related to this Act;
            (C) given, or is about to give, any information in 
 connection with any inquiry or proceeding relating to 
 any right provided under this Act; or
            (D) testified, or is about to testify, in any 
 inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided 
 under this Act.

    (b) Rebuttable Presumption.--If a covered digital labor platform 
provider takes an adverse action against an app-based worker within 90 
days of the app-based worker engaging, or attempting to engage in, 
activities protected by subsection

    (a) , there shall be a rebuttable 
presumption that the adverse action is in violation of such subsection.

SEC. 9. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Enforcement by the Secretary.--To ensure compliance with the 
provisions of this Act, or any regulation or order issued under this 
Act, the Secretary, may take the following actions:

    (1) Investigate.--The Secretary may--
        (A) review and analyze disclosures submitted under 
 

section 4
            (c) (1) by a covered digital labor platform 
 provider and issue public reports regarding 
 compensation and hours by industry;
        (B) collect any additional data regarding the 
 compensation, hours, and other conditions and practices 
 in any industry for which covered digital labor 
 platform providers are subject to this Act;
            (C) inspect any place or record (and make such 
 transcriptions thereof), question any app-based worker, 
 and investigate any facts, conditions, practices, or 
 matters as the Secretary may deem necessary or 
 appropriate to determine whether a covered digital 
 labor platform provider has violated any provision of 
 this Act, or which may aid in the enforcement of the 
 provisions of this Act; and
            (D) make requests for information, as authorized 
 under paragraph

    (2) , on a joint basis with another 
 Federal agency, a State attorney general, or a State 
 agency.

    (2) Reporting.--The Secretary may require, by general or 
 special orders and in addition to the disclosures required in 
 

section 4
            (c) (1) , a covered digital labor platform provider to 
 file with the Secretary, in such form as the Secretary may 
 prescribe, annual or special reports or answers in writing to 
 specific questions, furnishing to the Secretary such 
 information or records as the Secretary may require as to the 
 organization, business, conduct, practices, management, and 
 relation to other corporations, partnerships, and individuals, 
 of the covered digital labor platform provider.

    (3) Enforcement.--The Secretary shall receive, investigate, 
 and attempt to resolve, any complaints from app-based workers 
 of violations of sections 4, 5, 6, and 8 in the same manner 
 that the Secretary receives, investigates, and attempts to 
 resolve complaints of violations of sections 6 and 7 of the 
 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206, 207).

    (4) Public education.--The Secretary shall engage in public 
 education, including on its website and its outreach to 
 stakeholders, to inform app-based workers of the rights 
 pursuant to this Act.

    (5) Litigation.--The Solicitor of Labor may appear for and 
 represent the Secretary in any litigation brought under this 
 subsection.

    (6) Referral for criminal proceedings.--If the Secretary, 
 in the course of the performance of any action or duty under 
 this Act, obtains evidence that any covered digital labor 
 platform provider has engaged in conduct that may constitute a 
 violation of Federal criminal law, the Secretary shall refer 
 the matter to the Attorney General for prosecution under any 
 applicable law. Nothing in this paragraph shall affect any 
 other authority of the Secretary to disclose information.

    (b) Private Right of Action.--

    (1) In general.--
        (A) Affected app-based worker.--Notwithstanding any 
 action by the Secretary under subsection

    (a)

    (3) or 
 subsection
            (c) , an app-based worker may commence a 
 civil action against a covered digital labor platform 
 provider or, as applicable, a vendor of the covered 
 digital labor platform provider for an alleged 
 violation of paragraph

    (1) ,

    (2) ,

    (3) ,

    (4) or

    (5) of 
 

section 4

    (a) or 

section 5, 6, or 8 in any Federal court 
 of competent jurisdiction.
        (B) Consumer.--Notwithstanding any action by the 
 Secretary under subsection

    (a)

    (3) or subsection
            (c) , a 
 consumer may commence a civil action against any 
 covered digital labor platform provider for an alleged 
 violation of 

section 4

    (b) in any Federal court of 
 competent jurisdiction.
            (C) Authorized agent.--Notwithstanding any action 
 by the Secretary under subsection

    (a)

    (3) or subsection
            (c) , an authorized agent of an app-based worker may 
 commence a civil action against a covered digital labor 
 platform provider for an alleged violation of paragraph

    (1) ,

    (2) ,

    (3) ,

    (4) or

    (5) of 

section 4

    (a) or 

section 5, 
 6, or 8 in any Federal court of competent jurisdiction 
 as if the authorized agent were the app-based worker.
            (D) Labor organization.--Notwithstanding any action 
 by the Secretary under subsection

    (a)

    (3) or subsection
            (c) , a labor organization or a worker center that is 
 adversely affected by an alleged violation of paragraph

    (1) ,

    (2) ,

    (3) ,

    (4) or

    (5) of 

section 4

    (a) or 

section 5, 
 6, or 8 or that represents an app-based worker who is 
 adversely affected by such an alleged violation may 
 commence a civil action against the covered digital 
 labor platform provider or, as applicable, a vendor of 
 the covered digital labor provider that violates such 
 section in any Federal court of competent jurisdiction.

    (2) Relief.--
        (A) In general.--In a civil action brought under 
 paragraph

    (1) in which the plaintiff prevails, the 
 court shall award--
            (i) statutory damages in accordance with 
 the applicable provisions of subparagraph
        (B) ;
            (ii) any actual damages sustained plus an 
 equal amount as liquidated damages;
            (iii) reasonable attorney's fees and 
 litigation costs;
            (iv) appropriate equitable relief; and
            (v) appropriate injunctive relief.
        (B) Statutory damages.--Subject to subparagraph
            (D) , statutory damages under this subparagraph shall be 
 the following:
            (i) Failure to make proper disclosures.--
            (I) Timeliness of notices.--For any 
 violation of paragraph

    (1) ,

    (2) , or

    (3) of 

section 4

    (a) --

    (aa) an amount that is not 
 less than $20,000 per failure 
 to provide a notice required 
 under such paragraph; or

    (bb) an amount that is not 
 less than $5,000 per failure to 
 provide a notice required under 
 such paragraph in, as 
 determined through regulation 
 by the Secretary, a timely 
 manner.
            (II) Format of notices.--For any 
 violation of 

section 4

    (a)

    (6) , an amount 
 that is not less than $1,000 per 
 violation.
            (III) Receipts, pay statements, and 
 individualized algorithmic wage 
 setting.--For any violation of 
 paragraph

    (4) or

    (5) of 

section 4

    (a) or 
 

section 5
            (c) , an amount that is not 
 less than $5,000 per violation.
            (IV) Consumer notice.--For any 
 violation of 

section 4

    (b) , an amount 
 that is not less than $2,000 per 
 violation.
            (V) Quarterly reporting and 
 publication.--For any violation of 
 paragraph

    (1) or paragraph

    (2)
        (A) section 4
            (c) , an amount that is not 
 less than $20,000 per violation.
            (ii) Violations of take rate caps.--For any 
 violation of paragraph

    (1) or

    (2) of 

section 5

    (a) with respect to an app-based worker, an 
 amount that is the greater of--
            (I) an amount that is 4 times the 
 difference between the maximum 
 permissible take rate under such 
 section and the amount actually paid to 
 the app-based worker; or
            (II) $20,000 per violation.
            (iii) Data preservation violations.--For 
 any violation of 

section 6, an amount that is 
 not less than $20,000 per violation.
            (iv) Whistleblower violations.--For any 
 violation of 

section 8, an amount that is not 
 less than $25,000 per violation.
            (C) Temporary whistleblower relief.--In addition to 
 relief for a prevailing party under subparagraph
        (A) , a 
 court may award punitive damages and temporary 
 injunctive relief while a case is pending, including 
 reinstatement. All relief is available to a prevailing 
 whistleblower plaintiff regardless of whether the 
 plaintiff is authorized to work in the United States.
            (D) Adjustment of statutory damages.--The 
 Secretary, not later than September 1 of each calendar 
 year, shall adjust the dollar amounts referred to in 
 subparagraph
        (B) by the percent increase, if any, in 
 the consumer price index for all urban consumers 
 (United States city average), or a successor index, as 
 determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or a 
 successor agency, for the most recent 12-month period 
 for which data is available.
        (E) Joint and several liability.--In a civil action 
 brought under this subsection against a covered digital 
 labor platform provider and a vendor of the covered 
 digital labor platform provider for a violation of 
 

section 6 in which the plaintiff prevails, the covered 
 digital labor platform provider and the vendor shall be 
 jointly and severally liable for the violation.
            (c) Civil Monetary Penalties.--

    (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph

    (2) , the Secretary 
 may impose a penalty on any covered digital labor platform 
 provider that violates any provision of this Act in an amount 
 that is--
        (A) not less than $25,000 for any violation;
        (B) not less than $50,000 for any violation that 
 occurs not more than 2 years after another such 
 violation; or
            (C) not less than $100,000 for any willful 
 violation.

    (2) Amount determination.--In determining the amount of any 
 penalty under this subsection, the Secretary may consider the 
 appropriateness of such penalty to the size of the business 
 charged, the gravity of the violation, and whether the amount 
 is sufficient to deter future violations.

    (3) Use of amounts.--
        (A) Establishment of fund.--There is established in 
 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as 
 the Covered Digital Labor Platform Investigation Fund 
 (referred to in this paragraph as the ``Fund'').
        (B) Deposit.--Any amount collected as a penalty 
 under this subsection shall be deposited into the Fund.
            (C) Use of funds.--Amounts in the Fund shall be 
 available to the Secretary, without fiscal year 
 limitation and without further appropriation for 
 purposes of reimbursement of any costs of investigating 
 violations of this Act, determining whether any such 
 violations occurred, and collecting penalties under 
 this section.

SEC. 10. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

 For purposes of this Act, the use of an electronic monitoring tool 
or automated decision system by a covered digital labor platform 
provider includes the use of such an electronic monitoring tool or 
automated decision system by a vendor or other third party acting on 
behalf of the covered digital labor platform provider.

SEC. 11. REGULATIONS.

 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall issue regulations that--

    (1) define and delimit any undefined term used in this Act, 
 including by providing, as determined necessary by the 
 Secretary, examples of the application of the term to different 
 app-based occupations;

    (2) further clarify, define, or delimit any term that is 
 defined in this Act (including the terms substantially impacts, 
 aggregated app-based worker data, data, take rate, time on 
 task, and time worked), including by providing, as determined 
 necessary by the Secretary, examples of the application of the 
 term to different app-based occupations; and

    (3) provide for industry- or occupation-specific rules, as 
 determined necessary by the Secretary.

SEC. 12. LIMITATION OF JUDICIAL REVIEW OF REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Congress delegates to the Secretary the authority, 
in issuing any regulation under or with respect to this Act, to 
interpret the provisions of this Act. A court engaged in judicial 
review of those provisions, including judicial review under 

section 706 
of title 5, United States Code, shall only determine whether the 
agency's interpretation is based on a reasonable or permissible 
construction of this Act.

    (b) Standards for Judicial Review Related to Regulations.--For any 
action brought for declaratory or injunctive relief to challenge, 
whether facially or as-applied, the constitutionality or lawfulness of 
any rule or regulation promulgated under this Act--

    (1) such an action may be brought not more than 3 years 
 after the date that the rule or regulation was promulgated; and

    (2) such an action shall be filed in the United States 
 District Court for the District of Columbia.

SEC. 13. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.

    (a) In General.--

    (1) Preservation of state powers.--This Act shall not be 
 construed as preempting, altering, limiting, or affecting the 
 power or authority of a State to enact, adopt, or enforce any 
 State law that provides the same or greater protections to app-
 based workers or consumers as the requirements under this Act.

    (2) No safe harbor.--This Act shall not be construed to 
 permit noncompliance with any Federal, State, or local law that 
 establishes requirements regarding minimum wages or maximum 
 work hours or nondiscrimination in the workplace.

    (3) Arbitration agreements.--Notwithstanding chapter 1 of 
 title 9, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Federal 
 Arbitration Act''), or any other provision of law, a predispute 
 arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver between 
 an app-based worker and a covered digital labor platform 
 provider shall not be valid or enforceable.

    (4) Non-disclosure agreements.--Any confidentiality 
 agreement or other contract provision that prohibits the 
 disclosure of information by a party to the contract between an 
 app-based worker and a covered digital labor platform provider 
 shall not be valid or enforceable.

    (5) No waiver.--The rights and remedies in this Act may not 
 be waived by any agreement, policy, form, or condition of work.

    (b) Fair Labor Standards Act.--

    (1) In general.--This Act shall not be construed as 
 exempting a covered digital labor platform provider from 
 applicable requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) or regulations issued pursuant to 
 such Act.

    (2) Recordkeeping.--This Act shall not be construed to 
 alter, limit, or affect the power to investigate and gather 
 data regarding the wages, hours, and other conditions and 
 employment practices under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), to excuse noncompliance with any 
 recordkeeping requirements under such Act, or to limit 
 authorized collaboration with State or local agencies or the 
 power to issue homework regulations as established under such 
 Act.

SEC. 14. FLEXIBILITY.

 This Act shall not be construed to require, or to provide 
justification for, a covered digital labor platform provider altering 
or amending any policy, procedure, or system in a manner that has the 
effect of decreasing, limiting, or impeding the scheduling flexibility 
or access to work of an app-based worker.

SEC. 15. SEVERABILITY.

 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision 
to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the 
remainder of the provisions of this Act and the application of such 
provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected.
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