Section 2 of this bill authorizes a natural person who is a sole proprietor or an independent contractor to open and contribute to a portable benefit account, under certain circumstances, which may be used for the benefit of the account holder or a spouse, domestic partner, child or other dependent of the account holder. Section 3 of this bill authorizes the money in a portable benefit account to be used for the payment of costs for: (1) maintaining health insurance coverage; (2) coverage for or the purchase of prescription drugs; (3) any agreement or arrangement for the payment of medical expenses; (4) other out-of-pocket medical expenses; or (5) other benefits, including income replacement insurance, life insurance or an individual retirement account.
Section 4 of this bill authorizes a person who contracts for the services of a sole proprietor or an independent contractor to contribute money to a portable benefit account which is held by the sole proprietor or independent contractor. Section 4 authorizes, under certain circumstances, such a contribution to be based on withholding a percentage of payment otherwise owed to the sole proprietor or independent contractor.
Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner, the Attorney General and certain state agencies to share certain information relating to suspected or actual employee misclassification. (NRS 607.217) Existing law also authorizes the Labor Commissioner to impose various administrative penalties against an employer who misclassifies a person as an independent contractor or otherwise fails to properly classify a person as an employee. (NRS 608.400, 608.410) Section 4 provides that the fact that a contribution is made to a portable benefit account is, in and of itself, insufficient to support any determination by the Labor Commissioner as to whether or not the holder of the account should be classified as an employee. If the Labor Commissioner considers such a contribution in any proceeding or determination relating to the classification of the holder of the account, section 4 requires the Labor Commissioner to make at least three additional findings of fact in support of any determination that a person was not properly classified.