From JDSupra, Richard Reibstein discusses a recently enacted New York law that protects independent contractor fashion models. Richard writes:
NEW YORK ENACTS LAW PROTECTING INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR MODELS AND REGULATING FASHION MODEL MANAGEMENT COMPANIES. New York enacted a first of its kind law when on December 21, 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul signed the New York State Fashion Workers Act (S.B. 9832) providing protections for fashion models by addressing fee collections, payment deductions, contract renewals, retaliatory actions, and protections from discrimination and harassment, regardless of whether the models provide services as either independent contractors or employees. The law becomes effective 180 days after the Governor signed the bill on December 21, 2024. The bill summary describes New York as “the center of the American fashion industry,” employing 180,000 people, accounting for 6% of the city’s workforce, and generating wages totaling $10.9 billion. The summary goes on to state that “the creative workforce behind the industry’s success – namely, models, influencers, and performing artists – are not afforded basic labor protections in New York.” The legislature viewed this concern as a consequence of model management companies engaging models as independent contractors, leaving them unprotected outside the terms of their individual contracts, which the legislature found were often exploitative and one-sided, without financial transparency and accountability especially regarding payment issues and sexual abuse. This new statute is but the latest in a series of laws in New York protecting independent contractors, including the Freelance Isn’t Fee Act and the expansion of the state’s employment discrimination and sexual harassment law to cover independent contractors.