Posts tagged Kim Kavin
Women Independent Contractors are Physically and Emotionally Healthier
June 12, 2025 // One benefit of no longer being pigeonholed into traditional work is time to pursue deeper social interactions that do not involve vocation. I found it exhilarating to be free to pursue civic interactions through Meetups and chambers of commerce, as well as deeper relationships through the church. Because I am now able to craft my work around my schedule, rather than the other way around, I have regularly participated in women’s groups and Bible studies that meet in the mornings (my preferred time). These interactions are a huge boost to my mental and spiritual well-being. Having things to look forward to is a big part of this.
Independent Contractors Take Center Stage for ‘Empowering the American Worker’
May 27, 2025 // However, expert witness Dr. Liya Palagashvili showed data of the deliberate harm done through California’s law AB5 and its ABC test that is also embedded in the federal Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO) Act and other statewide legislation seeking to restrict the work of independent professionals. Now, these results are causal, meaning we can definitely say that ABC tests cause these negative outcomes. No other studies to date have found positive employment effects from these laws. The research shows that restrictive ABC tests do not create more work opportunities. They eliminate both independent and W-2 jobs.
Kim Kavin: The Tangled Web
May 23, 2025 // I know how most writers’ minds work. I have a well-honed instinct for spotting a thread I should pull on because the facts might be tangled up in some kind of web. This hyperlink in Newsweek was a different kind of typo. The words “2020 analysis” actually did lead to a report about independent contractors—one that was written not in 2020, but instead in 2009. A wrong hyperlink of that nature is a red flag to any decent editor that there’s probably an association in the writer’s mind between the words in the hyperlink and where that link goes. Any experienced editor will pull on that thread to figure out if there’s an actual problem with the facts.
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Hearing Recap: “Empowering the Modern Worker”
May 21, 2025 // “The way people do work in America is changing,” said Workforce Protections Subcommittee Chairman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) when he opened today’s hearing that discussed legislative solutions to protect independent contractors’ status and allow them to pursue certain benefits if they so choose.
Freelancers Aim to Overcome Legal Setback Against Biden-Harris IC Rule
October 28, 2024 // Four additional federal lawsuits against the DOL’s rule are pending, including cases in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Tennessee. In several of these cases, the plaintiffs are companies suing from the position of hiring entities, which legal experts believe might better position them to overcome the standing hurdle.
Labor Relations Radio, E148—An Update From Kim Kavin On The Battle Against Freelance Busters
October 11, 2024 // Returning guest Kim Kavin, a freelance writer, editor and co-founder of Fight for Freelancers has a new Substack: FreelanceBusting.com. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Kim Kavin joins host Peter List to discuss where the battle against the freelance busters stands during this election cycle.
Opinion: Your freelance job is in jeopardy (Radio)
April 18, 2024 // The DOL issued a rule creating a very strict and confusing definition of a 1099 worker which will certainly have a chilling effect on the entrepreneurial environment and the opportunities available to freelancers. A similar bill was passed in California (AB5) and it devastated small businesses and freelancers. Pacific Legal Foundation is now representing Kim and other plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the DOL. I want to thank Congressman Tom Kean Jr. for sponsoring action on behalf of the New Jersey delegation to push back against this intrusive and egregious assault on independent contractors.
A New Law Could Affect Your Retirement Side Hustle Income
April 10, 2024 // Kavin owns her own freelance writing and editing business in New Jersey and leads Fight For Freelancers USA, a nonpartisan coalition of freelancers from across the country that spans professions from translation to interior design. Around 20% of group members are ages 55 to 64 and nearly 10% are age 65 and older. Some members turned to freelancing after suffering age discrimination that cost them a traditional job, says Kavin. "They still want to work and earn, and the way they're able to do it is as independent contractors," she says. Kavin says she does well as a freelancer and does not want a traditional job, even if she could find one at her age. "It's a lot harder to find a traditional job in your 50s than in your 30s, especially one with the significantly higher level of income that I've been able to achieve as a freelancer," she says. "If I lose this self-employed business that I just spent 20 years building up, there may be no other place for me to go."
New Law Redefines Employees and Contractors
March 7, 2024 // Data suggest worker misclassification may be the exception rather than the rule in many industries. Surveys consistently show that most independent contractors prefer their independence. Around 79% of them prefer their arrangement over a traditional job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while fewer than one in 10 contractors want a traditional work arrangement. "Since a lot of older Americans do seek out these flexible forms of work as they near retirement — or after — this rule will likely lead to reduced work opportunities for them." Implemented in 2020 when acting U.S. Labor Secretary Su was California's labor commissioner, California's Assembly Bill 5, or AB5, similarly set out to protect workers by getting more people on the payrolls. But many Californians working as legitimate contractors suddenly lost income after businesses and nonprofits stopped working with them as freelancers and didn't hire them as employees.
Commentary: Why we just sued the US Department of Labor
February 6, 2024 // As one of us testified before Congress last year, the Biden administration remains relentless. It’s now attempting a regulatory workaround with the Department of Labor’s independent contractor rule, which, in a cruel twist, was released just days before Mercatus Center research showed that the protesting independent contractors have been right all along. Mercatus found that the California approach not only failed to create unionizable jobs, but actually decreased overall employment by 4.4 percent and self-employment by 10 percent. Mercatus also noted that this happened despite California ultimately exempting more than 100 professions. The new Labor rule exempts none. The department acknowledges there may be “conceptual overlap” with the California law’s most harmful language. We agree. What’s worse is that the Labor rule is so vague, it’s impossible for anyone to know how to operate legally with independent contractors. The Biden administration sees this as a feature, not a bug.