INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS LAUNCH #WhatTheHellDOL
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
The campaign is a response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s plans to
rewrite the rules for who can legally qualify as self-employed
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 13, 2022 — Several ad hoc groups of independent
contractors nationwide have joined forces to launch #WhatTheHellDOL, a social
media campaign created in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s
announcement that it plans to rewrite the rules for who can legally qualify as self-employed.
Fight For Freelancers USA, a nonpartisan, grassroots, self-funded, ad hoc group of independent contractors and small-business owners; Freelancers Against AB5, which represents independent contractors in hundreds of professions, and includes seniors, people of color, people with disabilities, the chronically ill, and family caregivers;
and California Freelance Writers United, a nonpartisan, ad hoc coalition created to
undo the damage caused to independent contractor journalists and writers by California’s Assembly Bill 5, are working together to launch the #WhatTheHellDOL campaign.
“This move by the U.S. Labor Department is the latest attempt to limit the choice
of self-employment that has existed since the founding of the United States,” said
Kim Kavin, a freelance writer from New Jersey who co-founded Fight For Freelancers. “The same people behind this move supported California’s Assembly Bill 5, which
was such a disaster that less than a year later, lawmakers had to pass a wide-
reaching emergency measure. California citizens then overwhelmingly voted to undo even more of it. Next, these same anti-freelancer forces tried and failed to get
copycat bills passed in other states and in Congress. Most recently, a federal court
told the U.S. Labor Department to stop breaking the law when moving toward
regulatory workarounds. Now, they’re trying again to attack our livelihoods.
Seriously, what the hell, DOL?”
President Biden campaigned on a plan to use the same anti-freelancer ABC Test
that underpins the failed California law as the basis for all labor, employment and
tax law nationwide. U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is now retweeting the same talking points that were used to pass California law back in 2019, and that have
since proved to have little basis in fact or reality.
“To understand how destructive this anti-freelancer position is, people should read
the Fight For Freelancers amicus brief that we recently co-signed, supporting a
lawsuit that challenges California’s anti-freelancer law,” says Karen Anderson,
founder of Freelancers Against AB5. “We continue to hope that the U.S. Supreme
Court will step in and stop the catastrophe that happened in California from
spreading nationwide.” The #WhatTheHellDOL campaign urges independent
contractors from all walks of life to share stories on social media about why they
choose self-employment. Some 70% to 85% of independent contractors prefer self-employment, according to government and private studies dating to 2015.
“The U.S. Labor Department is giving us only two minutes apiece to speak at its upcoming hearings about the independent contractor rulemaking,” says Maressa
Brown, founder of California Freelance Writers United. “Not only do self-employed Americans deserve a real seat at the table, but lawmakers and regulators
nationwide must stop threatening our chosen careers and livelihoods.”
#WhatTheHellDOL #FightForFreelancers
Media contact for Fight For Freelancers: Kim Kavin, kim@kimkavin.com,
908-975-3031 @thekimkavin / FightForFreelancersUSA.com @Freelancers_USA
Media contact for Freelancers Against AB5: Karen Anderson, 808-936-2668, 123karen@earthlink.net
Media contact for California Freelance Writers United: Maressa Brown, maressa.brown@gmail.com
We wanted to remind you that in New York State, COVID Paid Sick Leave is still
in effect for employees who are ordered to quarantine or isolate due to
COVID-19 and are unable to work while in quarantine or isolation. Depending
on the size of the business, employers may be required to provide COVID Paid
Sick Leave to employees without requiring employees to first use accrued paid
time off.
All employees, regardless of the size of the business they work for, are entitled
to job protection upon returning to work from COVID Sick Leave. Employees
exercising these rights are protected under New York’s anti-retaliation laws.
To learn about what you can do if you were exposed, have symptoms, or test
positive for COVID, please click here.
To find out more about your rights about COVID Sick Leave or to file a complaint, visit paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/COVID19.
NYC Amenda (and Delays Effective Date of)
Salary Disclosure Law for Job, Promotion, and Transfer Advertisements
Late last year, the New York City Council passed Int. No. 1208-B, now Local Law 32 of 2022,
which amended the City Human Rights Law (“HRL”) to require City employers with four or
more employees to include in job postings – including those for promotion or transfer
opportunities – the minimum and maximum salary offered for any position located within
New York City (“Law”). Failure to comply with the pay transparency requirements would
constitute an unlawful discriminatory practice under the HRL. As enacted, the Law was
scheduled to take effect on May 15, 2022, but that, and other provisions, have just been
amended. Yesterday, the City Council’s Committee on Civil and Human Rights passed
Int. No. 134-A, which implements several significant amendments to the Law, and this
afternoon the City Council passed the same (“Amendments”).
Specifically, the Amendments:
The Amendments seek to balance the Law’s main purpose of helping to prevent
pay discrimination against women and minorities, while answering some of the
business community’s most urgent concerns. If you have any questions in
navigating this delicate balance, please feel free to contact the Pitta LLP
attorney with whom you work, or any of our other dedicated attorneys.
The New York’s Whistleblower Law was expanded on January 22, 2022.
NYSDOL released a new notice that every workplace must post in a place frequented by employees.
To All Members,
Please see the link below for your business certificate posted by NYC Businesses to affirm adherence to the new law.
As you may have heard, Mayor de Blasio announced this morning an expansion of the NYC vaccine mandate. Details are still sketchy and I’ve not seen a new executive order issued as of yet, but here’s what we know so far.
Employers Subject to Current “Key to NYC” Mandate
Other Private Employers To Which “Key to NYC” Does Not Apply
Adult Use Cannabis and the Workplace
This document is intended to address some of the most common situations or questions in the workplace related to adult-use cannabis and the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (“MRTA”). This document does not address the medical use of cannabis. For further assistance with New York Labor Law and the MRTA, please visit New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management’s website at cannabis.ny.gov or consult with an appropriate professional.
S3920—Does NOT change the current “ABC “ Test in NJ but does contain new enforcement tools that the NJDOL deems necessary due to a past history of out of State employers, mainly construction subcontractors, who continue to ignore current laws and compliance efforts by NJDOL. The proposed changes include: expansion of NJDOL “Stop Work” orders to affect ALL work sites used by an employer rather than just the site where an alleged violation was found, would require payment of wages to workers affected by the “Stop Work “order for up to 10 days of the duration of the Order, increases fines for ignoring a “Stop Work “ order to $5K per day and empowers the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief in the courts against employers who continue to ignore compliance efforts by NJDOL. If passed NJDOL has NO plans to hire additional staff for enforcement other than State employees from other agencies or departments if the need arises in the future,
S3921—Creates an Office of Strategic Compliance with a $1M budget to coordinate all enforcement activities , including alleged misclassification, between various State/Federal agencies. They would also be empowered to review ALL applications to the State for any “direst business/financial/economic development assistance including job training grants, with the ability to deny access to those program when a passed history of alleged misclassification has been reported.
S3922—Legislation would empower the NJ Dept of Banking & Insurance to use the existing NJ Insurance Fraud Prevention Act to investigate employers who allegedly deny workers access to company benefits such as health or dental insurance as well as Workers Compensation coverage by misclassifying workers as independent contractors.
All three bills, may appear on the current legislative calendar which is schedule to end on June 30th, NYCMCA will provide additional information and details in the event that any of the measure outlined above make to a floor vote.
After passing the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO ACT), the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) issued its “Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan.” The NY HERO ACT mandates that employers adopt the DOL’s model plan or establish an alternative plan that at least meets the DOL’s minimum requirements by August 5, 2021. What does this mean for your company?
Businesses Need to Act Now
For more resources from the NYS DOL, visit their NY HERO ACT webpage.
NYSMCA was founded in 1945 and has promoted the interests and professionalism of the industry in the state of New York through education, advocacy and networking.
