Freelancers 'Excited' for New Bill Protecting Them From Cheap Employers

CITY HALL, NY — The estimated 4 million freelancers in the New York City metro area breathed a tentative sigh of relief this week after a bill to get their employers to actually pay them for their work passed the City Council on Thursday.

Melissa Kravitz, a freelance journalist who does most of her work in New York City, said she was "excited" about the new bill, called the Freelance Isn't Free Act, and hopeful it would hold her employers accountable for paying her on time. Kravitz said in the past year she began to use online payment systems, like Bills.com or Listable, to closely track the status of her invoices and payments. The Freelance Isn't Free Act would add an extra layer of law enforcement, she said.

"A lot of publications don't have a payment schedule, and obviously I have a rent schedule and a bill schedule," Kravitz said. "I'd like them to match up, rather than seeing a check six months later."

Kravitz said she's been stiffed by multiple publications, including one that just never paid her for multiple low-paying projects she did right out of college. After receiving no response to multiple calls and emails to her editor, she stopped trying. She didn't want to burn bridges, she said, because, as a freelancer, you never know who you will work with next.

"I was a little worried about angering them," Kravitz said. "Which was silly because who wants to work for someone who's not paying you?"

Some freelancers were concerned the bill would deter some employers from hiring them because the employer would want to avoid the new fines and penalties. Caitlin Pearce, director of member engagement at the Freelancers Union, an organization behind the bill, said this was unlikely given several corporations have expressed support for the bill.

"A lot of companies that realize that they really run on freelance labor are committed to finding great freelance work because it's a huge asset to their business," Pearce told Patch. "To do that, they have to treat their freelancers well."

Pearce said the bill has the support of companies like WeWork and Kickstarter, and other companies who run on freelance labor.

The new bill, which will be reviewed by the mayor in 180 days, would set new requirements and punishments for employers of freelancers in the city which would include paying freelancers within 30 days after he or she renders services and writing a contract for any freelance work over $800 within a four-month period.

A breach of these requirements by employers would be punishable by hefty fines. Freelancers who prove their case against an employer would be entitled to double the amount they were supposed to be paid, in damages. For example, if they were stiffed out of $5,000, they'd be paid $10,000 in damages.

Freelance laws in New York City are "so badly outdated they don't give the basic protections all workers expect, much less broader support and benefits to all workers in the growing gig economy," Brad Lander, the Brooklyn councilman who introduced the bill, said to the City Council on Thursday.

Freelancers who are stiffed would be able to go to small claims court with a more viable case than they had before, because their case will be documented with a contract, Pearce said.

"It will also open up a market where lawyers are going to be more actively trying to take on these cases," Pearce added.

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