From Business 2 Community, Gemma Alexander discusses New York City Council’s consideration of a measure that would protect freelancers. Gemma writes:
The New York City Council, recognizing that a city’s vitality depends as much on its independent graphic designers, stage actors, nannies, adjunct professors, and accountants as it does on salaried employees, is considering a bill to create new protections for those workers.
The Freelance Isn’t Free Act would provide gig workers with many of the same protections regular employees enjoy by:
- Requiring all work to be under written contract
- Imposing civil and criminal penalties for payments after 30 days
- Awarding double damages plus attorney fees for cases that do end up in court
Councilman Brad Lander proposed the bill. He represents Brooklyn, where artists and gig-workers are numerous, but 27 members of the 51-member council have already expressed support for the bill at a hearing held on February 29.
With such strong support, Freelance Isn’t Free should progress through the Council quickly. For nearly a third of the New York City workforce, that’s extremely good news. And for millions of other gig-workers around the country, the New York City law could serve as a model for fairer freelance-client dealings.
Read the full story at New York City Considers ‘Freelance Isn’t Free’ Law
