Section 12 of this bill creates the Independent Contractor Benefits Program and requires the Administrator of the Employment Security Division of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation to administer the Program. Section 13 of this bill requires a person who wishes to participate in the Program to submit an application to the Administrator which includes, among other requirements: (1) proof sufficient to the Administrator that the person received the majority of his or her income in the immediately preceding year for services performed as an independent contractor; and (2) an identification of the amount of money that the person wishes to contribute to the Program each month. Section 14 of this bill requires each participant in the Program to, with certain exceptions, pay a contribution to the Administrator in an amount specified in the application submitted pursuant to section 13. Section 19 of this bill requires such a contribution to be deposited in the State Treasury for credit to the individual account of the participant in the Independent Contractor Benefits Fund created by section 19.
Section 15 of this bill requires a participant who wishes to receive benefits for any week in which the participant is out of work to submit a request to the Administrator. Section 9 of this bill sets forth the circumstances in which a participant will be deemed to be out of work. If the participant satisfies the eligibility requirements set forth in section 16 of this bill, section 15 requires the Administrator to pay the participant benefits, the amount of which is then required to be deducted from the participant's individual account in the Fund. Section 17 of this bill requires the amount of benefits paid to a participant for a week in which the participant is out of work to be an amount equal to: (1) the balance of the participant's individual account in the Fund as of the date on which the participant submits a request for benefits divided by 52; or (2) if such amount is less than $1, the balance of the participant's individual account in the Fund. Section 18 of this bill requires the Administrator to terminate the participation in the Program of any participant who fails to pay the required contributions. Section 18 also authorizes a participant to voluntarily terminate his or her participation in the Program at any time.
Sections 3-11 of this bill define certain words and terms for the purposes of this bill.