Well, it’s happened.
In August of 2022, I wrote a piece about how the Biden Department of Labor was working to end me. No, it wasn’t a personal threat, but the threat was real. The effort sought to end freelance work, creating a federal version of California’s AB5.
My hope was that the proposed regulation would be killed. After all, there are a lot of us who like freelance work. That’s how I’ve supported my family for years.
And now, all of that is in danger.
The Labor Department just imposed 300 pages of new regulations to reclassify many individual contractors as payroll employees.
CNBC claims this could help freelancers "recover lost wages."
That's just nonsense.
The new rules will make it harder for some freelancers to support a family. My new video shows how it will also make it harder for them to do what they want to do.
I know this because I saw what happened in California.
Four years ago, unions got Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to push through a new law that reclassified gig workers.
They were told they'd get higher wages, overtime and other benefits.
Clueless media liked that.
Vox called the law "a big win for workers everywhere."
Ha! A few months later, Vox media layed off hundreds of freelancers.
"They expected that all these companies were going to reclassify independent contractors as employees," freelance musician Ari Herstand told me. "In reality, they're just letting them go!"
And honestly, that’s not surprising. Herstand notes that if he wants to hire a drummer, for example, he has to do more than write a check. He has to become an employer, which involves a lot of costs over and above the amount agreed upon for work. It includes payroll taxes, workman’s comp insurance, and other expenses.
Here’s the thing. I’m a freelance writer. I’ve been doing it for nearly a decade now as a way to support my family. I’ve written for sites large and small, some that are still important names in politics and some that don’t exist any longer.
But it’s how I pay my bills.
Moreover, it’s probably the only way I’m going to pay my bills.
I touched on this again in another piece, this one from last year, where I noted that with my ADHD, freelance work allows me to work around my situation, and not be screwed over by it.
Look, I’d love health insurance and retirement and all those workplace benefits, but the truth is that I don’t thrive in a traditional job. Freelancing has allowed me to go from struggling regularly to being the master of my destiny.
For me, what matters is whether freelance writers or journalists will be impacted by these rules—there are exceptions, after all—but if they are, I’m pretty well screwed. The places I write for haven’t brought me on full-time before now in part because they can’t. That didn’t change simply because of the Biden administration’s decree.
If this is applied to my industry, I’m out. It’s just that simple.
And it won’t be just me. Publications on all sides of political discourse will be releasing their freelancers and we’ll all be looking for something to do.
To say I’m concerned is putting it mildly.
If there’s an upside, it’s that I do at least have Substack. I don’t make more than part-time money here, but it’s something and it can grow. I’ve been working on that, of course, and a lot of you have helped with that. I appreciate it.
Substack won’t be impacted because it’s not freelance work. I’m working for myself and you guys are paying a subscription for the premium content. Well, some of you are. Some of you aren’t and that’s for various reasons. I’m not bothered by them. You do what’s right for you.
But it does mean that even though I’ve tried to step up my efforts here, I need to do more. (And, under the circumstances, if you do enjoy my content here, at least consider getting a paid subscription to help. Thanks!)
After all, the Biden administration is threatening my livelihood. The way I see it, I can cry about it or I can dig in and make it harder for them to push me into silence.
The Biden administration thinks they’re doing people like me a favor. They claim that I’m being exploited and they’re going to save me from it.
They’re only going to ruin what I’ve built so far.
I’m not inclined to let them.
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They DO NOT think they are doing you a favor. Government and a significant number them, (there are SOME good caring types) of those who enforce do not give a flying f...... about you, me or anyone outside their bubble. In many cases they know and LIKE that what they enforce is harmful.