Action Needed on Independent Contractor Bill 4748

Although there are only a little over 2 weeks left in this year’s legislative session, there is still a chance that HB4748 to amend the Independent Contractor law (see June 21st post) will come up for discussion before the House Ways and Means committee and even make it to the floor for a vote. Several of us have been talking to various offices of this committee, and it is clear that at least some of the Reps. want to change the language to make it more encompassing. Our job is to make sure that this bill is on everyone’s radar and to explain to them whether the current bill will work for you or not. H4748 is better than the current law, but it will still severely limit people from being able to legally get work. It allows an exemption only for freelancers who work at home and there are plenty of freelancers who don’t fit this category. You can explain that there must be a bill that can be written that protects workers from being misclassified, while not preventing legitimate freelancers from making a living.

Please contact the members of the House Ways and Means Committee. Find their contact information here. If at all possible, please try to contact each member, particularly the Chairs, as well as the Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, 617-722-2500, Robert.DeLeo@State.MA.US and as your own Representative (see sidebar for contact information). A phone call or an email will work. Doing both will have even more impact. It is important for each member to know the effect the current legislation has had on you. They will not realize the importance of this bill if they do not hear from many of us.

The bottom line is that unless this law is fixed:
Massachusetts residents are specifically being unfairly prohibited from earning a living in already tough economic times.
Massachusetts is losing out on tax revenue from these earnings.