Recent News
Each year since 2018, some member of Congress has introduced a bill called the PRO Act, which would, among other things, eliminate most forms of independent contracting and reclassify those workers as employees under the National Labor Relations Act. The House passed this bill along largely partisan lines in 2019. Much like its state-level counterpart, California’s AB 5, the PRO […]
Beth Anne Mumford and her husband welcomed their first child into the world in 2004. But juggling the new challenges of motherhood and office work became complicated. Pair this with the family’s relocation from the East Coast to the Midwest, just two months after their child was born, and a traditional job became unfeasible. Mumford was fortunate enough to rely on her husband as the family’s sole provider. As she got the hang of motherhood, she was ready to reenter the […]
Should members of Congress be able to determine how you do your job and who can employ you? According to the lawmakers pushing the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019 — widely known as the PRO Act, or one of the worst bills in Congress — the answer is a resounding yes. Why is the PRO Act such a threat to independent work and workers’ […]
Americans for Prosperity’s sister organization, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, filed a public comment December 14 in support of a U.S. Department of Labor proposed rule to update union financial reporting requirements. Although an update to reporting requirements has been considered at other times, a significant update was last implemented in 2004, requiring new levels of […]
A recent article by Independent Women’s Forum’s Senior Policy Analyst Kelsey Bolar highlights an unusual victim of California’s new restrictions on independent contractors: Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. In 2018, California lawmakers enacted Assembly Bill 5, which redefined what constitutes an independent contractor. While many choose contracting for the flexibility and diversity of clients, AB 5 […]
The rise of the gig economy has helped college students across the country pick up extra cash and gain valuable work experience between classes. Allison Rigterink counts herself among them. Rigterink, a senior political science major at Saginaw Valley State University, and an intern at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, picked up gig work in January 2019. She became a courier for Shipt, an app-based company that facilitates front-door delivery […]
The innovations of the last 30 years have transformed the way many of us live and work. Thanks to smartphones and the internet, millions of people, every day, use “transaction platforms” to exchange products and services with individuals in their own communities, or around the world. We sell through Nextdoor, find a driver on Lyft, or rent a house […]
Legislative efforts across the country to restrict freelance and gig work have put the livelihoods of independent contractors in jeopardy. The House has passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019, also known as the PRO Act, which would reclassify most independent contractors as full-time employees. It will likely pass a new version of the bill in the next Congress. Several states — including Pennsylvania — are considering legislation similar to California’s AB 5 law, which […]
The U.S. workforce has changed dramatically over the last several decades. Workers from all backgrounds are increasingly choosing the flexibility and freedom of independent contracting over traditional office jobs, especially women. But a new California law is stripping this freedom away from many. Jennifer Oliver O’Connell’s story Jennifer Oliver O’Connell is a California-based screenwriter, reinvention […]
