Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Recent press regarding need to change the MA Independent Contract Statute

Here are URLs for four recent articles from the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Herald, the Worcester Business Journal and CFO Magazine that focus on the need to change the MA independent contractor statute

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/print-edition/2011/12/09/critics-want-contractor-law-made.html?surround=etf&ana=e_article (This article requires a subscription to see the entire article. Send a comment with you email, and I can forward the entire article to you.)

http://bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1386803

http://www.wbjournal.com/news50249.html?Type=search

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/14609153?f=search

Sunday, November 6, 2011

CALL FOR WRITTEN TESTIMONY AND SUMMARY OF HEARING

Urgent call for written testimony in support of any of the following bills that will amend the Independent Contractor Law: Senate Bill S00957/House Bill H01412 or House Bill 2874, An Act Relative to Independent Contractors.

On November 3rd there was a public hearing before the Joint Committee on Labor and Work Force Development on the 3 bills noted above. There were a total of 43 bills being heard at this hearing, but by far the most testimony concerned the Independent Contractor Law. Testimony included both proponents of a change as well as opponents. The following article is a good summary of the testimony:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/20111104contractor_law_leaves_lawmakers_juggling_job_benefit_concerns/srvc=home&position=recent

We need to generate as much written testimony in favor of these bills as possible by November 8th. Please take the time to send in testimony and ask other Massachusetts residents to do so as well. For more information on these two bills and the reasons we need to change a 2004 law governing independent contractors/freelancers in our state, see the prior postings on this blog.

Please send in written testimony in support of these bills to the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development- email address: Kate.Flanagan@Mahouse.gov by November 8th (Kate is the staffer who will make sure all the committee members get a copy of your testimony). You should also send copies of your testimony to your own Senator and Representative.

Thank you for taking the time to do this.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

IC Hearing Scheduled for Nov. 3rd

The Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce will hear the 4 bills listed in the Sept. 12, 2011 posting on November 3, 2011 at 10:30 in Room A1. This date is not actually confirmed (that doesn't happen until the day before), but it is quite probable. Sign-in for testifying starts at 10AM. If you wish to testify you should be there around 10 to get on the list. The current room number A1 could be changed, if there are a lot of people attending the hearing. This is our chance to be heard on this important issue, so please plan to attend. Note that there will be several other bills heard at the same time.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Oct. 6 Joint Comm. on Labor and Workforce Development Hearing postponed

The October 6th hearing in front of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development regarding changes to the Independent Contractor law has been postponed. It is supposed to be rescheduled for another date in October. We will keep you posted.

Friday, September 16, 2011

New non-profit coalition working on IC legislation

A new non-profit coalition is working on the Independent Contractor Legislation, and they asked us to post the following. Note that the hearing may be sooner than Oct. 6th. We will keep you posted.

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On October 6th, 2011, at 10:30 a.m., the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development will be holding a hearing on the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law. In preparation for this legislative hearing, New Jobs for Massachusetts, Inc., a non-partisan, non-profit, pro-job growth advocacy organization, is forming a panel of speakers who are willing to share their personal stories with the legislative committee.

NJFM is seeking to bring together freelancers and independent contractors from a broad spectrum of industries to illustrate how far-reaching and devastating this legislation has been.

NJFM believes that the legislation was not intended to be so all-encompassing, and thus we are asking the legislators to look at the true intent of the legislation and repair the law so thousands of individuals can return to work, and businesses can conduct their business in a way that makes sense for them.

As it stands, Massachusetts' law on independent contractors is the strictest of its kind in the country, and it has suppressed the creation of literally tens of thousands of jobs here in Massachusetts.

NJFM is part of a one-issue coalition that includes organizations and professionals such as Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), experienced employment attorneys, and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts (RAM).

NJFM pledges to provide complete support to all panelists, including helping them prepare for the hearing and reviewing testimony. It is important that the legislators hear from “real people” with personal stories of hardship as a result of this legislation.

If making your voice heard on this issue appeals to you, please reach NJFM at any of the following:

NJFM office phone: (978) 263-3429
Mike Hruby, President: mike@newmassjobs.com
Christine Doucette, Analyst: christine@newmassjobs.com

We also have a website if you are interested in learning more about our organization and the work we are doing: www.newmassjobs.com.

Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.
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Monday, September 12, 2011

UPDATE ON NEW LEGISLATION AND HEARING SCHEDULED

After some last minute activity to change the Independent Contractor law in the last Legislative session, which went down to the wire, it was not heard, in part because of the Casino bill. This year there seems to be more interest in fixing the Independent Contractor law, because the legislature knows this law needs to be fixed.

Look through this blog for a summary of what happened during the last legislative session.

This Legislative session there are 4 bills that have been proposed to fix the situation.

H01412: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H01412 (click link to see information on this bill)

S00957: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/Senate/S00957

H02784: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H02874

H02298: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H02298

There are problems with each of these bills, but they will serve as a starting point for any discussion.

H01412 and S00957 are essentially the same bills. They are similar to what was defeated last session.

H02784 has some good wording, so this could be the best starting point.

H02298 is not sufficient, as it will not work for all Independent Contractors, e.g. those who need to ‘go to the place of business of the enterprise’ for whatever reason.

These bills will be heard by the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, who will give a reading on them to the Legislature. The hearing is scheduled for October 6, 10:30-1, Room 81 (NOTE that this is a change). There are several activities we should each undertake.

If possible, plan to attend the hearing. In the last session, we had a large turnout at the hearing, and we weren’t even organized. This really had an impact on the committee.

If you are comfortable, you should plan to give verbal testimony, which you should also leave with the committee as written testimony. Consider organizing yourselves into panels of 3 or 4 people, so things will move along more quickly. If you aren’t comfortable giving verbal testimony or you are not able to be at the hearing, you should send in written testimony to the committee.

You should be contacting all members of the committee, as listed below, to let them know of your concern with this issue. Contact your own State Senator and Representative as well. You can e-mail them or just make a phone call, although e-mail is probably best, if there is time.

Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development:

Chairs:
Daniel A. Wolf, Senate Chair, (Dem. Harwich): 617-722-1570, Daniel.Wolf@masenate.gov
Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera, House Chair (Dem. Springfield): 617-722-2014, Cheryl.Coakley-Rivera@mahouse.gov
Michael J. Rodrigues Senate Vice Chair (Dem., Westport): 617-722-1114, Michael.Rodrigues@masenate.gov
Lori A. Ehrlich, House Vice Chair (Dem. Marblehead): 617-722-2014, Lori.Ehrlich@mahouse.gov

Senate Members:
Barry R. Finegold, (Dem. Andover): 617-722-1612, Barry.Finegold@MASenate.gov
Michael F. Rush, (Dem. West Roxbury): 617-722-1348 , Mike.Rush@masenate.gov
Sal N. DiDomenico, (Dem. Everett): 617-722-1650, Sal.DiDomenico@masenate.gov
Robert L. Hedlund (Rep. Weymouth): 617-722-1646, Robert.Hedlund@masenate.gov

House Members:
John H. Rogers (Dem. Norwood): 617-722-2092, John.Rogers@mahouse.gov
John P. Fresolo (Dem. Worcester): 617-722-2240, John.Fresolo@mahouse.gov
Linda Dean Campbell, (Dem. Methuen): 617-722-2877,
Linda.DeanCampbell@mahouse.gov
Denise Andrews (Dem. Orange): 617-722-2460, Denise.Andrews@mahouse.gov
Ryan C. Fattman (Rep. Sutton): 617-722-2460, Ryan.Fattman@mahouse.gov
Demetrius J. Atsalis (Dem. Barnstable): 617-722-2080, Demetrius.Atsalis@mahouse.gov
David M. Torrisi (Dem. North Andover): 617-722-2396, David.Torrisi@mahouse.gov
James Arciero (Dem. Westford): 617-722-2320, James.Arciero@mahouse.gov
Shelia C. Harrington, (Rep. Groton): 617-722-2305, sheila.harrington@mahouse.gov
Of the 17 committee members listed above, only 5 were on the committee last session, namely Senator Hedlund and Representatives Coakley-Rivera, Rogers, Fresola, and Arciero. As a result, we need the committee to learn about how this law has affected us.

To find your own Representative or Senator go to:
http://www.malegislature.gov/People/Search
Enter your address to find the name of your Rep. and Senator. Click on their names to get their contact information. Some of these legislators might be new as well.

Also consider writing letters to the Editor of your local newspapers or trying to have a story written on this issue and how it has affected you specifically. We had some great press on this last year (as noted in this blog), which was a help.

We will keep you posted as we hear more about this issue.

By the way, if you haven’t already signed our Petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/fix-the-massachusetts-freelancer-law/, please go to this site and sign it.