regulation

California’s war on freelance writers

This entry was posted in Writing Writing as business and tagged business California regulation on by

California’s AB-5, which I wrote about earlier, is now law. This is bad news for freelance writers in the state. It’s already cutting into writers’ earning ability. People are already losing work. Some businesses have stopped hiring California writers.

The bill’s supporters in the legislature pretend it’s for the freelancers’ own good. They shouldn’t be working in such low-paying jobs! Certainly some writers work for sadly low rates. It’s the best choice for some people, especially ones with limited mobility or other handicaps. Some of them have few alternatives and need the money to break even. Others love writing and would like to make some money at it, even if it’s not a lot.

But influential unions can’t organize self-employed people. It’s hard to ensure that they pay all their taxes. Uber and Lyft drivers compete with taxis. Those are the real reasons for restricting self-employment.
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New Jersey bill attacks freelancers

This entry was posted in Commentary Writing as business and tagged freelancing New Jersey regulation on by

A bill in the New Jersey legislature could mean trouble for freelance writers. It bans freelance contract work that doesn’t meet all of the following requirements:

a. The individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of the service, both under the individual’s contract of service and in fact; and

b. The individual’s service is either outside the usual course of the business for which that service is performed; and

c. The individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.

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