Posted on 12/17/2019 1:56:13 PM PST by Red Badger
Key Points:
Hundreds of Vox Media freelancers will lose their jobs in the coming months.
Vox Media is preparing for a California law, Assembly Bill 5, which goes into effect in 2020 and forbids nonemployees from submitting more than 35 articles per year.
SB Nation said Monday that it will move its California team blogs, which rely on contractors, to a new system run by SB Nation employees.
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Hundreds of freelance writers at Vox Media, primarily those covering sports for the SB Nation site, will lose their jobs in the coming months as the company prepares for a California law to go into effect that will force companies to reclassify contractors in the state as employees.
“This is a bittersweet note of thanks to our California independent contractors,” John Ness, executive director of SB Nation, wrote in a post on Monday. “In 2020, we will move California’s team blogs from our established system with hundreds of contractors to a new one run by a team of new SB Nation employees.”
In a separate memo seen by CNBC, Ness said that California contractors can apply for a full-time or part-time position in California. Contractors who wish to continue contributing can do so but “need to understand they will not be paid for future contributions,” he said. “We know this may be a difficult decision, so we’re giving everyone affected 30 days to decide what works for them,” Ness added.
The announcement follows the September passage of Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) by the California Assembly and its signing by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Targeted primarily at ride-hailing and food delivery companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and PostMates, the legislation requires gig economy workers to be hired as employees with benefits like health coverage and minimum wage protections.
As it pertains to Vox, the law forbids nonemployees from submitting more than 35 pieces per year. Most of the changes at Vox will be at SB Nation, which has writers all over the country covering professional and college sports, but will also touch other sites like Curbed and Eater, according to a person familiar with the matter.
SB Nation is posting about 20 part-time and full-time jobs, so some of the freelancers may be hired on as staff, said the person, who asked not to be named because not all the details have been made public. A few of them were posted on Monday.
Vox, backed by NBCUniversal (the parent of CNBC), has been expanding. The company acquired New York Media in September, inheriting a portfolio of media properties including New York Magazine, The Cut, Intelligencer, Vulture and Grub Street. Vox acquired tech blog Recode in 2015.
Even as the company grows, AB5 will change how at least some of its sites are structured. A writer named Rebecca Lawson, who covered the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks from San Diego, wrote a post on Monday titled, “California’s terrible AB5 came for me today, and I’m devastated.” Lawson, who was editor-in-chief of the blog Mavs Moneyball, said she would be forced to step down as of March 31.
“SB Nation has chosen to do the easiest thing they can to comply with California law — not work with California-based independent contractors, or any contractors elsewhere writing for California-based teams,” Lawson wrote. “I don’t blame them at all.”
AB5 has been staunchly opposed by gig economy companies, whose business models could be uprooted. Uber, Lyft and DoorDash pledged $90 million on a ballot initiative for the 2020 election that would exempt them from AB5. The bill has the potential to change the employment status of more than 1 million workers in California.
Now it bites them in their posterior.............
Petard, meet hoist...
Oops!
lol
Unintended (?) Consequences
I wish your pic was accurate, but unfortunately, these idiots do breed.
Liberals never consider the unintended consequences in their march to socialism.................
What’s amazing:
These journos who want unionized work, and find themselves unemployed without it, have EVERYTHING they need to do exactly what they want.
They have all the contacts, equipment, editing tools, etc needed to launch a new (and unionized!) news service TOMORROW.
There is great demand for a real news service (vs propaganda outlet), so they’d have little difficulty finding a paying audience.
They can organize it however they like.
And it’s not happening.
Is this an attack on the 1st amendment?
Not really, because it applies to manufacturing companies and computer companies as well.................
Wow. Weird.
Oh, so this is some kind of forced unionization?
No, it’s an attack on mis-classified workers. It is finally an attack on the gig economy.
By declaring them employees, the government gets more control over their pay and work conditions. One more step towards the goal: total government control over all the means of production.
No, it basically says if they contribute more than 35 articles per year, they must be considered EMPLOYEES, not CONTRACTORS, and would be eligible for all thew benefits...................
It’s an attempt to stop the misclassification of Independent Contractors in the new gig economy.
In some ways it is to protect IC’s from being ‘abused’ by their hiring company.
In other ways it’s to get companies to pay the taxes that protect workers. Workers Compensation or unemployment taxes, that often times IC’s who are one person operations don’t pay.
I actually don’t think this is a horrible adjustment...yet.
Downside...loss of jobs and prices go up. The best freelancers, giggers, etc. will get decent paying employment. The rest better sharpen their skills.
Okay, I guess I don’t see the down side of a Gig Economy. People are employed and may even prefer that type of work. People may not be able to find permanent employment but will be able to find “gig” employment.
I bet that a lot of small businesses and start ups work this way.
Thanks. Makes sense now.
“Workers Compensation or unemployment taxes, that often times IC’s who are one person operations don’t pay.”
ICs can’t draw those on “benefits” ... why should they be forced to pay them?
People should be allowed to be “employed” any way they see fit. I suspect a LOT of people would want to be ICs. Yes, I am aware of the lack of benefits and all of that other stuff ... sometimes, people just want a lump sum of cash and will get the “benefits” they need as they see fit.
This attack on the “gig economy” is nothing more than a ploy for governments to fill their coffers. Moreover, the government prefers to be paid, directly, by employers. Individuals might get the bright idea to starve these scumbags by not paying taxes if they were sick and tired of the scummy games politicians play.
>>Contractors who wish to continue contributing can do so but “need to understand they will not be paid for future contributions,” he said.
Exposure!
It’s like the millionaire Leftists who run SXSW and get thousands of volunteers and thousands of bands to work for free while they make a fortune.
“Hey like we’ll give you $250 for traveling to this country and getting a hotel room etc OR we’ll give you a WRISTBAND to go to events!”
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