---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relates to protections for freelance workers"
description: "Enacts the \"freelance isn't free act\"; provides for the payment of freelance workers as independent contractors, including requiring written contracts; timely payment of compensation and handling controversies relating to payment, complaint procedures, and penalties; excludes construction contracts."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ny"
legislature: "New York Legislature"
session: "2023-2024"
identifier: "S 5026"
citation: "New York S 5026 (2023-2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Andrew Gounardes"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-02-22"
last_action: "2023-11-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b60f5bab-1d04-4e50-b030-cf308863a1af"
source_url: "http://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S5026"
source_hash: "135e7db62e85fc84d8a84000b8f43f855258fecf051b26d04f0ab4bfeee1ec08"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ny"]
---

# New York S 5026 (2023-2024) — Relates to protections for freelance workers

Enacts the "freelance isn't free act"; provides for the payment of freelance workers as independent contractors, including requiring written contracts; timely payment of compensation and handling controversies relating to payment, complaint procedures, and penalties; excludes construction contracts.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **S5026** (committee substitute) — [source](http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?sh=printbill&bn=S5026&term=2023&Text=Y)

## Votes

- Assembly Vote — **144–1** (pass) · lower
- Finance Vote — **17–5** (pass) · upper
- Labor Vote — **12–1** (pass) · upper
- Floor Vote — **43–15** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Andrew Gounardes — primary (person)
- Brad Hoylman-Sigal — cosponsor (person)
- Cordell Cleare — cosponsor (person)
- Gustavo Rivera — cosponsor (person)
- James Skoufis — cosponsor (person)
- Jessica Ramos — cosponsor (person)
- Jessica Scarcella-Spanton — cosponsor (person)
- José M. Serrano — cosponsor (person)
- Julia Salazar — cosponsor (person)
- Lea Webb — cosponsor (person)
- Leroy Comrie — cosponsor (person)
- Liz Krueger — cosponsor (person)
- Luis R. Sepúlveda — cosponsor (person)
- Michael Gianaris — cosponsor (person)
- Nathalia Fernandez — cosponsor (person)
- Robert Jackson — cosponsor (person)
- Samra Brouk — cosponsor (person)
- Sean Ryan — cosponsor (person)
- Zellnor Myrie — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-02-22** REFERRED TO LABOR `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-02** REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-16** 1ST REPORT CAL.1031
- **2023-05-17** 2ND REPORT CAL.
- **2023-05-18** ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
- **2023-06-01** PASSED SENATE `passage`
- **2023-06-01** DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
- **2023-06-01** REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS `referral-committee`
- **2023-06-08** SUBSTITUTED FOR A6040
- **2023-06-08** ORDERED TO THIRD READING RULES CAL.711
- **2023-06-08** PASSED ASSEMBLY `passage`
- **2023-06-08** RETURNED TO SENATE
- **2023-11-13** DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR `executive-receipt`
- **2023-11-21** SIGNED CHAP.678 `executive-signature`
- **2023-11-21** APPROVAL MEMO.35

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b60f5bab-1d04-4e50-b030-cf308863a1af`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New York legislature records).