The Department of Labor just imposed 300 pages of new rules to reclassify many individual contractors as payroll employees.
CNBC claims this could help freelancers “recover lost wages.”
It’s simply nonsense.
The new rules will make it happen Harder for some freelancers to support a family. My new video shows how this will make it harder for them to do what they want.
I know this because I saw what happened in California.
Four years ago, unions convinced then-Congresswoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) to pass a new law reclassifying gig workers.
They were told they would get higher wages, overtime and other benefits.
The inexperienced media liked it.
Vox he called the law “a victory for workers everywhere.”
Ah! A few months later, Vox Media fired hundreds of freelancers.
“They expected that all these companies would reclassify independent workers as employees,” freelance musician Ari Herstand told me. “Actually, they are just letting them go!”
Herstand was dismayed to learn that when he wants other musicians to join him, he can no longer simply write them a check.
“Gotta put that drummer on the payroll, W2 him, get workers comp insurance, unemployment insurance, payroll taxes!” he complains. “I need to hire a payroll company.”
California’s anti-freelance law was supposed to protect “mistreated” Uber and Lyft drivers.
But many Pleases the flexibility to be independent. “I don’t want a boss telling me when or where to drive!” one told us.
But union-funded politicians insist they know better.
Gonzalez said, “When you have to take a side job or a third or fourth job, that’s not flexibility; that’s feudalism!”
What followed was what usually happens when politicians pass bad laws. Politically connected people pay lawyers and lobbyists to exempt them. Truckers got an exemption from California’s new law. So did writers, photojournalists, graphic designers, illustrators, musicians (like Herstand) and more than a hundred other professions.
Uber and Lyft also received exemptions.
“Why is this a good law?” I ask. “Exemption for those smart enough to get to the politicians.”
“It’s definitely not the solution,” admits Herstand. “It doesn’t seem like this is any way to legislate.”
No. But that’s how it’s done.
When a reporter asked Gonzalez, “What do you have to say to those freelance journalists, to those independent contractors, who have now lost their jobs because of your bill?”
The congressman sneered: “These are not jobs. They are freelance positions that can last three hours a month.”
The arrogance!
People choice These jobs. Most had other choices. Unemployment is low.
Freelancers appreciate the flexibility that freelancing offers.
How dare politicians declare, for everyone, that those jobs aren’t good enough?
“They are embarrassed that they made this huge mistake.” Herstand says.
“They won’t take him back,” I point out.
“No politician ever wants to admit they did something wrong,” he replies.
California error results are now available.
Even with all the exemptions for politically connected people, freelancers still lost their jobs.
A study by the Mercatus Center found that employment fell by up to 28% in professions where self-employment was common.
And that’s not because most freelancers got jobs with benefits. Labor force participation has also declined.
Yet now the US Department of Labor is forcing the rest of America to limit freelance work too? Crazy! It’s one of the reasons we have 50 states. Not all of us want to be more like California!
Even worse, President Joe Biden wants to go further by getting Congress to pass a union-backed bill called the PRO Act. It would reclassify workers the same way California does, but without any exemptions!
Do politicians never learn?
NO.
Biden says he is eager to be “the most pro-union president in American history.”
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