Posted on 12/23/2019 4:28:36 PM PST by karpov
A nonprofit legal foundation is suing California on behalf of freelance workers who say the state's recently passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) will destroy their livelihoods. Set to take effect on January 1, 2020, AB5 will make it illegal for contractors who reside in California to create more than 35 pieces of content in a year for a single company, unless the outlet hires them as an employee.
"By enforcing the 35-submission limit, Defendant, acting under color of state law, unconstitutionally deprives Plaintiffs' members of their freedom of speech as protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution," states the lawsuit, which was filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation.
The bill's pending implementation has wreaked havoc on publications that rely heavily on California freelancers. Just last week, Vox Media announced it will not be renewing the contracts of around 200 journalists who write for the sports website SB Nation. Instead, the company will replace many of those contractors with 20 part-time and full-time employees. Rev, which provides transcription services, and Scripted, which connects freelance copywriters with people who need their services, also notified their California contractors that they would no longer give them work.
"Companies can simply blacklist California writers and work with writers in other states, and that's exactly what's happening," Alisha Grauso, an entertainment journalist and the co-leader of California Freelance Writers United (CAFWU), tells Reason. "I don't blame them."
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), the architect of AB5, has heard these stories. "I'm sure some legit freelancers lost substantial income," she tweeted in the wake of Vox's announcement, "and I empathize with that especially this time of year. But Vox is a vulture."
"These were never good jobs," Gonzalez said earlier this month. "No one has ever suggested that, even freelancers."
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
Thesolution is actually quite simple. Incorporate.
By operating as a corporation working under even the thinist of contracts business can continue as before. No 1099’s arerequired for corporation to corporation payments
the problem is that vrious state and local taxes apply.
functioning as a corporation operating to offer services is the way to go
Uber need not hire the drivers. the drivers need to incorporate themselvs.
Democrat thugs know better than you.
Vert good point.
Trump shouldn’t spend much time in Calif, but he should spend some.
Thanks.
I started searching after I asked you and found that if you hire musicians to play with you, you must treat them as employees and not as fellow contractors. Crazy.
It’s hard to think of a field that this doesn’t affect. If you hire a maid and you, as a normal course do a little cleaning, will they have to be hired as an employee? What about a landscaper? This afects almost all mechanics and body workers. Many shops now have in house independents that bid on jobs. They went to this because of unions and various labor laws. Barbers, other beauty professionals, sub contracting. This will make most anything highly unaffordable. What an idiot Gonzalez is.
Why cant the libtards ever live out what they say they believe and stand for? A little personal hardship and sacrifice for the planet and all of a sudden their morals get tossed out the nearest window.
We are seeing why democracy is inferior to constitutional republics. Majorities turn into tyrannical, big brother, mob rule situations.
Everyone should just become an LLC. At least then you could deduct all business expenses.
Proving that Democrats love jobs. They just hate business.
Here is an idea. Create an entity "SInc" with two dozen or so separate subsidiaries. Call them S1 through S24. Writer A submits each article he writes to his target company and also to S1. Then the article is no longer for a single company. After Writer A has submitted 35 articles to S1, he submits his next 35 articles to S2, then the next 35 articles to S3, and so on. In the meantime, his original target company has accepted, say, 270 articles during the year, none of which were written solely for that company. And by the way, SInc does no publishing but does have a designated reader to read the articles.
That was actually the intent.
This is a direct of liberals’ idealistic assumptions being the basis of decision making. They thought that if you ban gig work, you’ll magically get people hired into full time employment with benefits. You know, the same thing proven untrue when the minimum wage was raised and employer benefits were mandated.
Actually, the jobs are just moving. And the internet makes that very easy.
California’s tax authority has been insane, trying to collect income taxes from people in other states paid by California firms. And in some cases, people who sold high dollar items to California.
Now, California Can Assess Taxes No Matter Where You Live...Really
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2019/10/22/now-california-can-assess-taxes-no-matter-where-you-livereally/
This has created several ongoing shifts in the freelancing world. (I do this for a living.) Platforms are banning California residents from taking new assignments, because they don’t want the person classified as an employee. Requestors of projects are refusing to work with people in California. I’ve been asked to not only confirm I live in Texas but prove it.
Another possible out for these requestors is to move to another freelancing platform not based in California. Upwork loses work, iwriter gains it.
Another issue is that platforms can easily migrate servers and locations. Imagine the company based in Silicon Valley saying we’re now in Texas or Florida. Congratulations, that state’s laws apply. They can continue issuing projects from requestors to freelancers, and California loses a taxpayer who can move more easily than anything else.
The last ditch move for some of these firms is entirely relying on international talent. If the freelancers are in India and China, you don’t have to worry about U.S. employment rules.
Actually, the jobs are just moving. And the internet makes that very easy.
California’s tax authority has been insane, trying to collect income taxes from people in other states paid by California firms. And in some cases, people who sold high dollar items to California.
Now, California Can Assess Taxes No Matter Where You Live...Really
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2019/10/22/now-california-can-assess-taxes-no-matter-where-you-livereally/
This has created several ongoing shifts in the freelancing world. (I do this for a living.) Platforms are banning California residents from taking new assignments, because they don’t want the person classified as an employee. Requestors of projects are refusing to work with people in California. I’ve been asked to not only confirm I live in Texas but prove it.
Another possible out for these requestors is to move to another freelancing platform not based in California. Upwork loses work, iwriter gains it.
Another issue is that platforms can easily migrate servers and locations. Imagine the company based in Silicon Valley saying we’re now in Texas or Florida. Congratulations, that state’s laws apply. They can continue issuing projects from requestors to freelancers, and California loses a taxpayer who can move more easily than anything else.
The last ditch move for some of these firms is entirely relying on international talent. If the freelancers are in India and China, you don’t have to worry about U.S. employment rules.
Californistan is a hostile neighboring communist nation.
I won’t even violate it’s airspace.
What is unfair is the carve-out for certain groups in this law. It excludes medical professionals, fishermen, MLM salespeople, salespeople, architects, engineers, and lawyers. Photographers got a carveout, while freelance writers didn’t.
To: 17th Miss Regt
Actually, the jobs are just moving. And the internet makes that very easy.
California’s tax authority has been insane, trying to collect income taxes from people in other states paid by California firms. And in some cases, people who sold high dollar items to California.
Now, California Can Assess Taxes No Matter Where You Live...Really
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2019/10/22/now-california-can-assess-taxes-no-matter-where-you-livereally/
This has created several ongoing shifts in the freelancing world. (I do this for a living.) Platforms are banning California residents from taking new assignments, because they don’t want the person classified as an employee. Requestors of projects are refusing to work with people in California. I’ve been asked to not only confirm I live in Texas but prove it.
Another possible out for these requestors is to move to another freelancing platform not based in California. Upwork loses work, iwriter gains it.
Another issue is that platforms can easily migrate servers and locations. Imagine the company based in Silicon Valley saying we’re now in Texas or Florida. Congratulations, that state’s laws apply. They can continue issuing projects from requestors to freelancers, and California loses a taxpayer who can move more easily than anything else.
The last ditch move for some of these firms is entirely relying on international talent. If the freelancers are in India and China, you don’t have to worry about U.S. employment rules.
The funny side effect - these publications have said you’re welcome to submit content ... we’ll publish for free.
I expect to see an explosion in official sponsored content and professionals providing interviews / free content in exchange for a mention of their business.
To: 17th Miss Regt
Actually, the jobs are just moving. And the internet makes that very easy.
California’s tax authority has been insane, trying to collect income taxes from people in other states paid by California firms. And in some cases, people who sold high dollar items to California.
Now, California Can Assess Taxes No Matter Where You Live...Really
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2019/10/22/now-california-can-assess-taxes-no-matter-where-you-livereally/
This has created several ongoing shifts in the freelancing world. (I do this for a living.) Platforms are banning California residents from taking new assignments, because they don’t want the person classified as an employee. Requestors of projects are refusing to work with people in California. I’ve been asked to not only confirm I live in Texas but prove it.
Another possible out for these requestors is to move to another freelancing platform not based in California. Upwork loses work, iwriter gains it.
Another issue is that platforms can easily migrate servers and locations. Imagine the company based in Silicon Valley saying we’re now in Texas or Florida. Congratulations, that state’s laws apply. They can continue issuing projects from requestors to freelancers, and California loses a taxpayer who can move more easily than anything else.
The last ditch move for some of these firms is entirely relying on international talent. If the freelancers are in India and China, you don’t have to worry about U.S. employment rules.
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