Posts tagged Freelancers
Unions, businesses urge legislators in opposite directions on independent contractor rules
May 13, 2026 // “New Jersey’s labor department says it may consider some factors in one case but not in another case, so who knows what matters?” said Kim Kavin, a freelance writer long opposed to ABC regulations. “The department says it may consider factors that aren’t listed anywhere.”
100 State Leaders Urge Washington to Protect Independent Work
May 8, 2026 // That is why State Policy Network’s Center for Practical Federalism helped organize a coalition of 100 state leaders from 25 states in support of the US Department of Labor’s proposed rule clarifying independent contractor status under federal law. The coalition includes four statewide officials and 96 state legislators. The proposed rule would rescind the Biden administration’s 2024 independent contractor rule and replace it with a clearer standard for determining when a worker is an employee and when a worker may be classified as an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
Op-ed: It’s Time to Unwind Biden’s Chaos for Freelancers, Small Business
April 29, 2026 // Preserving flexible work is extremely important to women, who make up about half of the nation’s freelance workforce. Nine out of 10 women who left traditional jobs to freelance did so for flexibility. As caregivers, independent contracting allows moms to raise children or care for aging parents. Sara B. stated in her supportive comment for the proposed rule, “I value my flexibility and independence with Instacart because I'm a mom who can only work sometimes because I don't have many people to help me watch my child so I can work. Being able to work whenever I want helps me so much.” For seasoned workers transitioning into retirement and older Americans supplementing Social Security benefits, flexible work keeps them engaged.
Commentary: Freelancers want to be free
February 26, 2026 // The latest evidence for this comes courtesy of a Politico poll on the subject. The survey found that 88 percent of app-based workers wanted to remain as independent contractors – that is, freelancers – rather than be treated as traditional employees. The workers themselves aren’t buying the argument that they’re being exploited. The general public feels largely the same, if not quite so strongly. The same poll found that 76 percent thought that app-based workers should continue to be treated as independent contractors “if their employers are required to provide them with access to portable benefits.”
Freelance Busting: ‘Absolute Stalemate’
February 20, 2026 // The nearly two-thirds of Americans who would prefer to be our own bosses need protection from this encroachment on our freedom to choose self-employment. So do the vast majority of us who are already independent contractors and wish to remain so. It’s beyond frustrating that the help we need may be a long time coming, especially at the federal level. Experts recently gathered to discuss the reality of the situation in Congress during an hourlong Federalist Society panel, where they minced no words about why the challenges in Washington, D.C., persist.
Testimony: Jonathan Wolfson: NH House of Representatives Committee, House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services
January 20, 2026 // And what this bill really does at says if a worker and the business that they're working with want to enter into an agreement where a portion of that pay, whether that is the pay, the base pay they agree on or some sort of supplemental pay, wants to go into some sort of account. Maybe that business offers health savings accounts to their employees and they say to that independent worker, would you like us to put some of the dollars that we would otherwise pay you into that health savings account which allow you to have some tax benefits for the dollars going in there instead of going to you directly? This allows them to do that without taking the risk that in the status quo they have. And that risk is that by simply paying those dollars into a benefited account, that business is at risk that that person could be considered misclassified under New Hampshire law. whether that is workers compensation, unemployment insurance, state labor law, or state tax law.
Commentary: Right-to-Work States Dominate U-Haul Growth Index
January 12, 2026 // Among the top ten growth states in the U-Haul index, nine have a Right-to-Work law that protects workers from being forced to pay dues to union bosses as a condition of employment. -Among the bottom ten states in the U-Haul index, NONE has a Right-to-Work law. All are forced unionism states. -Of the 25 top ranked cities in the U-Haul Growth Index, 24 are located in Right-to-Work states. The 10 best ranked states in the U-Haul Growth Index are Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Alabama and Georgia. All are Right-to-Work except Washington.
Los Angeles Times Journalists Ratify New Labor Contract, Averting Strike
December 4, 2025 // The deal offers members thousands of dollars in raises. Employees at the Times will receive $3,000 in wage increases in the first year of the contract, $2,750 in the second year and $2,500 in the third year. Those who work at Times Community News will receive $5,000 raises in the first year of the deal and $4,000 in the second and third years. The contract also enshrines Juneteenth as a holiday, codifies protections around employees using their chosen names and pronouns and asserts that the paper must respond when members face online harassment. The deal requires that management disclose any mandatory drug testing in job postings and creates union-covered “per diem” positions (a move intended to limit the use of non-union freelancers and temporary workers).
GSI, Kavin Give More Reasons for NJDOL to Abandon Independent Contractor Rule
November 3, 2025 // despite more than 99% of opposing comments to it, there were two new developments this week to show even more reasons why the effort should be abandoned. A new analysis from the Garden State Initiative showed how the rule would effectively threaten the livelihoods of thousands of freelancers, caregivers, and small business owners across the state. The report, Independent Contractor Rules Threaten New Jersey’s Small Businesses and Jobs: Lessons from California’s Failed Approach, said the rule would disproportionately affect “women and men with young children who rely on flexible hours,” retirees supplementing their income, and “immigrants and minorities, many who use gig work as a first step into the American workforce.”
Op-ed: When Workers Have Other Options: Rethinking Power in the Multi-Earner Economy
October 5, 2025 // Well, monopsony is the flip side: when one (or just a few) buyers dominate a market. In labor markets, that “buyer” is your employer. And when employers have monopsony power, they can pay you less than what your work is actually worth—because where else are you going to go? Here’s the thing: you don’t need to live in a company town with one employer to experience monopsony power. It happens if the cost of leaving your job is too high. Maybe you need the health insurance.