Employment Status

Whether college athletes are employees of their schools is unresolved. They are now compensated, but compensation is not the same as employment, and employee status would bring wage-and-hour law, collective bargaining rights, workers’ compensation and tax withholding into college athletics.

Q. Are athletes employees today?

No. Athletes receiving revenue-sharing payments are not classified as employees, and the House settlement did not change that.

Q. Why does it keep coming up?

Because the reality increasingly resembles employment: athletes are paid, sign contracts and face performance conditions. Litigation has tested whether existing labour law already covers them.

Q. What would change?

Minimum wage and overtime, the right to unionize and bargain, workers’ compensation coverage, and payroll tax withholding instead of self-employment treatment. It would restructure athletics administration substantially.

Q. Where does federal legislation stand?

The Protect College Sports Act introduced in 2026 is deliberately neutral on employment status, an omission widely read as intentional, because it is the hardest issue to get agreement on.

Q. What should schools be doing?

Most counsel advise structuring agreements to avoid unnecessary indicators of employment, and monitoring the litigation rather than assuming the current position is permanent.