Interrupting the regular schedule for some special news.
California's AB5 bill was meant to protect gig economy workers who were misclassified as independent contractors by the likes of Lyft and Uber. Instead, the law penalized freelancers by limiting the amount of work they could do for clients to 35 pieces per year.
Companies, of course, balked at the law and instead fired California freelancers, so they could hire workers based in other states. After the disastrous rollout, California eventually excluded certain professions including freelance writers from AB5.
Now Congress is currently considering a law that would basically take AB5 nationwide with ZERO exceptions. The PRO Act, as it's called, uses the exact same ABC test as AB5, in which a worker is defined as an employee rather than an independent contractor unless these three conditions are met:
the scope of work is outside of the client's business
the scope of work is in line with the worker's established business or occupation
the worker is free from the clients' control and direction regarding the contracted work
The PRO Act is about to pass the House and Biden has signaled his support for the law. There’s a lot wrong with the nature of jobs at present, but this new law isn’t the right solution.
The PRO Act, if passed as-is, will destroy the livelihoods of folks like me who have created independent businesses serving the needs of clients and enjoying self-sufficiency, freedom, and flexibility.
Here’s what other freelancers have to say about the PRO Act:
Bonnie Kristian, in The Week
Deborah Abrams Kaplan, in The Content Marketing Writer
Writing for the Independent Women’s Forum, Patrice Onwuka explores the particular pain the PRO Act may cause the women who’ve already had to choose between career and family in the pandemic, many of whom have turned to gig economy work amid job losses in the hospitality, tourism, and foodservice sectors. Over half of Door Dash’s new drivers were women; seven in ten new Instacart shoppers were women. Onwuka writes. So while I’m up in arms about this as a freelancer who could lose longstanding client relationships, those who are already hard-hit in the current crisis stand to lose again if this moves forward.
I made the decision to freelance 10 years ago. I spent 5 years freelancing part-time while working because at the time, I still believed I needed an employer to look out for my long-term interests.
The employer that sent me to the freelance world for good illegally classified me as an IC. I got no mobility, no benefits, no advancement or career development opportunities.
In this job, the ICs were the only people who worked.
The tenure-track professionals slacked off by playing cribbage, scrolling through Facebook, and having multiple-hours-long coffee breaks on the regular. They didn’t keep up to date with new technology and couldn’t do their jobs. They were waiting for retirement.
It was a completely dysfunctional environment and even though many of the ICs, myself included, were ready, willing, and able to do more, it was cheaper to keep us on in part-time roles and pay no benefits than to provide a path for advancement.
I gave that job a year and a half in the hope that things would change. Then, after my employer refused to allow me to work from home when I was medically prohibited from driving after surgery (thus forcing me to go without work and a paycheck I needed) I decided to move full-time into freelancing. My freelancing clients had my back and supported me while I was medically unable to work. My so-called real job didn't.
I know what it’s like to be exploited and misclassified on the job. But I also know the PRO Act doesn’t *actually* protect workers when it relies on an outdated, flawed test like ABC, which is flawed because:
It was written in the 1930s and isn’t robust enough for today’s economy
It vastly oversimplified things
It doesn’t protect employees. It harms freelancers and small businesses
It reduces freedom, flexibility and choice
It’s going to compound the economic pain many already suffer amid Covid-19
Take five minutes today to educate yourself on what the PRO Act could mean for your business. Then take action. Tell your representatives (this is set to pass the House but will head to the Senate). Tell your story. Don’t let this pass without a fight.
Learn more: https://fightforfreelancersusa.com
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