Posts tagged small business owners
The Roadmap To Modernizing Federal Labor Laws: Matt Kittle, F. Vincent Vernuccio
July 20, 2025 // That's one of the main things that we want to see at I4AW. Is workers having a choice in a voice, having. The ability to say who they want to be represented by, how they want their money spent, and how they want to work. And I know we talked about it briefly with the ERA, but the ability for an independent contractor to work for themselves, not be considered an employee, small business owner, to own a franchise, all those things are core to what the flexibility and the entrepreneurship of the modern worker, and those are the concepts that are embraced, you know, not just on the union end of the Employee Rights Act, but on the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit and pro worker end of the ERA.
Commentary ABC: PRO Act Reintroduction Is a Ruse To Appease Union Bosses
March 6, 2025 // “The reintroduction of the PRO Act displays continued disregard for the livelihoods of small business owners, employees and independent contractors,” said Swearingen. “While Congress has long rejected the PRO Act and its provisions, these legislators continue to pursue failed policies and attack business models and fundamental freedoms that have fueled entrepreneurship, job creation and opportunity for the American worker. “The PRO Act and its harmful provisions would have a devastating impact on the U.S. construction industry and cause significant harm to the nation’s economy,” said Swearingen. “Further, the bill’s provisions would significantly raise economic costs for the nation’s 27 right-to-work states in an effort to increase union power at the expense of worker freedoms and small businesses.”
California fast food restaurant owners warn that hiking $20 minimum wage will ‘cripple’ them
January 8, 2025 // The council, which consists of 10 members appointed by the governor, is empowered to raise the minimum wage by up to 3.5% — or the annual rate of inflation each year — beginning Jan. 1 of this year. The union representing fast food workers has accused restaurant owners of cutting employee hours in response to the wage increase — all but offsetting the hike in wages.
Opinion: Political Vendettas Put Small Business in the Crossfire
August 17, 2024 // Senator Bernie Sanders’ recently released Amazon Investigation Interim Report is an example of such an effort that put America’s small business community in the crossfire. I can't help but think that the report was created to serve a personal agenda against the nation’s largest online marketplace. It relied on outdated data to draw misleading conclusions that Amazon is a uniquely dangerous workplace and sets an inappropriate and extreme precedent rife with questionable methodology and bias. Read Newsmax: Political Vendettas Put Small Business in the Crossfire | Newsmax.com Important: Find Your Real Retirement Date in Minutes! More Info Here
California restaurant owner fears $20 wage hike will put him out of business: ‘Increase prices or close’
April 17, 2024 // After hustling to keep his doors open throughout the pandemic, a Los Angles restaurant owner is speaking out against the state’s newly enacted $20 minimum wage law, fearing it could be the final straw that puts him and his employees out of business. Justin Foronda, the owner of HiFi Kitchen in Filipinotown ,a neighborhood in Los Angeles, has spent the last several years enacting new and creative ideas to keep his restaurant afloat, navigating an industry devastated by widespread closures during the pandemic. An LA Times column released on Saturday titled, "Small-business owners brace for uncertainty as the $20 hourly fast-food wage takes effect," details Foronda's plight as he and other restaurant owners say they're suffering at the hands of the state’s newly enacted $20 minimum wage.
VIDEO: Protecting Trucking’s Independent Contractors
March 21, 2024 // A new rule from the U.S. Department of Labor undermines the livelihood of 350,000 truckers across the U.S. who choose to operate as independent contractors. In this episode, we explore the rule's impact on small trucking business owners and how ATA is fighting back in the courts and through the legislative process.
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.
Biden’s new rule on independent contractors wages war on workers, women and entrepreneurs
February 26, 2024 // In the past year alone, 64 million Americans freelanced, half of whom were women. Women choose independent contractor status because of the flexibility it affords them, a particularly important factor for those raising children or aiding in caring for parents or other family members. Ninety-two percent of female workers prioritize flexibility over stability when it comes to their careers. Flexibility in the workplace is no longer a commodity, it is a necessity.
Worker misclassification could cost big bucks for small businesses
February 22, 2024 // Audited companies found to have misclassified employees face significant penalties. Just federally that means repaying all the employer portions of taxes that had been paid by employees and a portion of the employee contribution. There are also interest and penalty costs. “That’s just the tax piece,” Panning said. “If there’s a class action lawsuit by these independent contractors saying we’re employees, we deserve the benefits, then it’s even more because you get into the court system.”