Freelancers are also protected against “ unfair working conditions” under the 2006 Independent Contracts Act. A number of steps have been taken-such as the 2017 Freelance Isn’t Free Act-to provide damages for freelancers who were paid late or not at all, and to help freelancers who suffered retaliation or harassment. It’s possible you won’t be able to join a union, but the more relevant question is: what kinds of workplace protections do freelancers have against unfair treatment at work? One massive issue freelancers face is being paid late or not at all-for example, 29% of all freelance invoices are paid late. Legal Protections For FreelancersĪll hope is not lost, though. They do not negotiate contracts with employers or represent freelancers with grievances, and as such, there are a number of legal benefits freelancers who join it are missing out on. The bad news is that the Freelancer’s Union is not technically a union. With over 500,000 members, it offers benefits likes discounted health, dental, and vision plans. The good news is that for people like me, there is a Freelancer’s Union. In this sense, the very flexibility that attracts workers to the gig economy presents a challenge for unionization.” The Freelancer’s Union Also, freelancers are usually not centrally located and may not be connected to one another in a personal way like many employees who work in the same facility or office. “Freelancers are almost always contractors. “The challenges for freelancer unions are that traditionally unions are groups of employees, not contractors,” says Austin Kaplan, attorney at Kaplan Law Firm. I contain multitudes, as evidenced by the 521 hours it takes me to file my taxes.Įxperts agree that freelancers encounter challenges around unionization. I’m a writer, but I’m also a social media consultant, a comedian, a part-time social worker, and an SAT tutor. And some, such as myself, freelance in many different areas. But not all freelancers are eligible for these unions. The National Writers Union, for example, offers union protections for many types of writers, as does the Writers Guild of America. There are unions that protect freelancers. And I want worker protections without losing the ability to work many different gigs. I’m not misclassified-I really am an independent contractor. The problem of misclassification is important, but it’s not relevant to freelancers like myself who want to work for many different organizations. Unions are workers only hope of having any say in how the laws that will impact our lives are written.” Unionizing Freelancers We need to have the power to do the same, and that's why I'm a member of the NWU and why I support unions. If laws stand in their way they can change the laws. “It's just a matter of time before they figure out how to take it another step and make every worker an independent contractor. “In manufacturing and logistics, we already see lots of workers who are employed by staffing agencies rather than directly by the companies they work for,” said David Hill, Vice President of the National Writers Union. But unions can help with the problem of misclassification.
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