Massachusetts Freelancers/Independent Contractors

I am new to this issue, but I would be interested ...

2011-12-26T10:03:02.313-05:00

I am new to this issue, but I would be interested in knowing about instances where this law has adversely affected independent contractors. All the examples of suits I have seen have been brought by people who want to be classified as employees rather than independent contractors.

During my career as a free-lance book editor. I have been hired by individuals, publishing companies, and entities unrelated to the publishing industry. I have never wished to be considered an employee, nor have other editors I know. I gather than prong 2 of the law would apply to publishing companies, but wouldn't they have to be sued by free-lancers for this to be a problem?

Hey, I just saw this now since I've been havin...

2011-11-09T22:36:55.258-05:00

Hey, I just saw this now since I've been having some computer issues for the past week. Would it still be useful to provide a writeup?

Did this hearing take place yet? If so, what was t...

2011-11-05T16:58:31.192-04:00

Did this hearing take place yet? If so, what was the outcome?
Evelyn R

I'm not in the WGBH area—thanks for posting th...

2010-06-21T21:31:35.490-04:00

I'm not in the WGBH area—thanks for posting this link!

Laurie, excellent work keeping on top of this. Man...

2010-06-08T05:19:38.677-04:00

Laurie, excellent work keeping on top of this. Many thanks,
Rachel Youdelman

An exemption for "freelancers who work from t...

2010-05-24T05:14:16.131-04:00

An exemption for "freelancers who work from their place of residence and who register with the Secretary of State" seems like a good solution to me, at least for the interim, and would affect many of us who work from home offices.

I emailed my state senator (Cynthia Creem) this morning to ask for her support.

Laurie, we are all indebted to you for your hard work on this issue.

I called my senator and also Senator McGee, who...

2010-04-17T20:28:23.430-04:00

I called my senator and also Senator McGee, who's reportedly working on this issue in particular. I was told they hoped for a solution within a month or so, obviously not promised but sooner than I would have guessed -- even if it takes twice as long, just having this horrible problem addressed would be great. My senator said that they hadn't gotten too many calls, so please call your senator if you haven't already! They were very friendly and willing to discuss the issue in some detail.

Thanks for your helpful website so I could sound like I knew what I was talking about.

Hi Peg, Thanks so much for your note! We're h...

2010-04-10T11:26:06.381-04:00

Hi Peg,

Thanks so much for your note! We're happy to see people from all different industries come together to fight this devastating law.

Anyone interested in getting involved should call their senators and representatives. If they want to contact us, there is a contact form below and on the main blog page.

Great Globe article! I'm another one affected...

2010-04-09T14:34:28.892-04:00

Great Globe article! I'm another one affected by this. I do court accounts for attorneys. It's something large law firms do in-house as part of their business but tiny law firms hate doing and many prefer to outsource. I've been in business for nine years and serve over 50 law firms (32 in 2009 alone). It's absolutely ridiculous that I might be considered an employee of each of those firms, even if I do one hour of work for them a year. I've never even met some of my clients and I've never seen the physical site of most of them, yet I'm an employee? It's a joke. Except I can cite at least one instance of a firm who wants to give me a large stream of business but won't until this law is changed. I called my state rep a year or so ago and couldn't get him to understand that this really makes a difference to microbusinesses. So keep pushing and let's get it fixed! (Also, if you would be so kind as to post some contact info, I'd be happy to get more involved.)

--Peg Primak, Primak Partners, Waltham, MA