HOUSE BILL NO. 6458
the people of the state of michigan enact:
(a) "Contracting agent" means a business, organization, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietorship, or other legal entity that meets both of the following conditions:
(i) The entity provides services that do both of the following:
(A) Facilitate a consumer acquiring the provision of services by a worker.
(B) Make payments to a worker from a consumer.
(ii) According to the internal revenue code of 1986, the entity is obligated to provide a form 1099-MISC to its workers.
(b) "Department" means the department of labor and economic opportunity.
(c) "Qualified benefit provider" means a benefit provider that is eligible to provide benefits to a worker of a contracting agent under section 4.
(d) "Worker" means an individual who provides services to consumers through a contracting agent.
Sec. 2. (1) A contracting agent that facilitates the provision of services by 50 or more workers in a consecutive 12-month period shall contribute funds to qualified benefit providers to provide benefits to the workers of the contracting agent. The contribution amount must be the lesser of 25% of the total fee collected from the consumer for each transaction of services provided or $6.00 for every hour that the worker provided services to the consumer. The contracting agent shall not deduct the contribution amount from the wages that the worker earned for the services provided. If the contribution is determined per hour, the contribution must be prorated per minute. The contribution amount required under this section may be added to the invoice or billing submitted to the consumer for the services.
(2) Contributions must be made to the qualified benefit provider on not less than a monthly basis and not later than 15 days after the end of the month in which the services were provided. Contributions must indicate the assigned amount per worker per transaction as follows:
(a) If a single worker provided services for a transaction, the entire contribution is assigned to that worker.
(b) If multiple workers provided services for a transaction, the contribution is assigned proportionately to those workers.
Sec. 3. (1) Qualified benefit providers shall secure the payment of compensation under the worker's disability compensation act of 1969, 1969 PA 317, MCL 418.101 to 418.941, for those workers entitled to benefits based on contributions made under section 2.
(2) A qualified benefit provider shall provide to its employees some or all of the benefits listed in this subsection. A qualified benefit provider shall solicit input from workers regarding the workers' choice of benefits or allocate the contributions among the following benefits:
(a) Health insurance, including, but not limited to, subsidies to purchase health insurance on the exchange.
(b) Paid time off.
(c) Retirement benefits.
(d) Other benefits determined by the qualified benefit provider.
(3) Qualified benefit providers shall not use more than 5% of contribution funds for the administration of benefits.
Sec. 4. The department shall promulgate rules that govern qualified benefit providers. The rules must, at a minimum, require that a qualified benefit provider meets all of the following criteria:
(a) The entity must be exempt from federal taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code, 26 USC 501(c)(3).
(b) At least 1/2 of the entity's board of directors must be composed of workers performing work for customers of contracting agents or representatives of bona fide independent organizations of those workers.
(c) The entity must be independent from all business entities, organizations, corporations, or individuals that would pursue any financial interest in conflict with that of the workers.
(d) All action of the entity regarding providing benefits must be for the sole purpose of maximizing benefits to the covered workers.
(e) The board of directors of the entity must hold a fiduciary duty to the workers with respect to provision of the benefits.
(f) The entity must demonstrate adequate viability and financial sufficiency as determined by the department. At a minimum, the entity must have all of the following:
(i) Cash reserves in a sufficient amount, as determined by the department.
(ii) Liability coverage for an amount determined by the department.
(iii) Access to bonding.
(iv) Other requirements as determined by the department.
Sec. 5. (1) A worker entitled to benefits under this act shall select a qualified benefit provider and must be given the option to change his or her selected qualified benefit provider 1 time each calendar year.
(2) The department and the contracting agent that a worker provides services through shall provide the worker with information regarding available qualified benefit providers.
(3) A worker must be able to easily select the worker's chosen qualified benefit provider.
Sec. 6. The department shall promulgate rules to implement this act under the a