SECTION 1.  Section 148B of Chapter 149 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding after subsection (d) the following:

(e) Notwithstanding the foregoing, an individual shall not be treated as an “employee” for purposes of this Chapter 149 and Chapter 151, provided that:

1.the individual is engaged to conduct store audits or perform mystery shopping services;

2.the service opportunities are offered to the individual on a project-by-project basis, which the individual can accept or decline at the individual’s discretion;

3.the remuneration for the services the individual performs is determined on a fixed-fee basis, regardless of the amount of time worked; and

4.the individual is not restricted from performing similar services for others.

SECTION 2.  Section 6 of Chapter 151A of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding after subsection (x) the following:.

(y) Service performed by an individual engaged to conduct store audits or perform mystery shopping services, provided that the service opportunities are offered to the individual on a project-by-project basis, which the individual can accept or decline at the individual’s discretion; the remuneration for the services the individual performs is determined on a fixed-fee basis, regardless of the amount of time worked; and the individual is not restricted from performing similar services for others.

SECTION 3.  Section 1 of Chapter 152 of the General Laws is hereby amended by amending subsection (4) thereof by deleting “and” at the end of  clause (f) thereof, replacing the period at the end of  clause (g) thereof with “, and” and by adding after  clause (g) the following:.

(h)  a person engaged to conduct store audits or perform mystery shopping services, provided that the service opportunities are offered to the person on a project-by-project basis, which the person can accept or decline at the person’s discretion, the remuneration for the services the person performs is determined on a fixed-fee basis, regardless of the amount of time worked, and the person is not restricted from performing similar services for others.