Chasing Work News Today

Economy Biden is sending a signal that he is fighting big business with big government. Min President Biden recently signed a sweeping new executive order granting federal agencies more power to meddle in private marketplace and businesses.  While the White House is pitched this 72-initiative order as a way “to promote competition in the American economy,” it seems more like a grab-bag of random products and industries that are targeted for micromanagement.  There are a...

Economy Congress May Let Me “Be My Own Boss” A proposed bill would create a new classification of self-employed workers under federal law. This comes as the nations over 50 million independent contractors face significant threats from the PRO Act. Min Self-employment is ballooning in the workforce right now. Prior to the pandemic, women were starting businesses at a rapid pace. Despite the challenges of the past year, entrepreneurship and independent work continue to enjoy...

The May jobs report demonstrates an economy that wants to roar back and is returning, but may be slowed by workers remaining on the sidelines

Min Today is National Nurses Day, part of National Nurses Week! At IWF, we send a big thank you to our nation’s 3.1 million nurses. These women and men have been on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic since day one. They risk their health to secure ours. Modern nursing was established by Florence Nightingale, a British woman who led a group of female nurses to deliver medical services to soldiers during the Crimean War in 1854. Nightingale brought women formally into the world of...

Regulations The signal is clear: union power is more important than worker choices and flexibility. Min WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Biden administration canceled a Trump-era labor rule that would have made it easier for workers to be classified as independent contractors. The Biden Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule today rescinding the rule issued in the final weeks of the Trump administration that brought needed clarity to determine whether a worker should be classifie...

Min The new Biden Labor Secretary is a big labor guy. Independent contractors should be on alert. Secretary Marty Walsh made comments days ago that signal this administration plans to crack down on independent contracting and push as many American workers back into the outdated model of work organized labor thrives on. Say ‘goodbye’ to flexibility, and ‘hello’ to union dues. Walsh is a former union boss. He plans to execute on President Biden’s goals of boosting union membership...

(Martin Clarke/Michelle Janikian via AP) It has been a little over a year since I started my fight against California’s AB5: the so-called “Gig Workers” law that was supposed to right the wrongs of misclassification of 1099 Independent Contractors who should have been employees. Authored by San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena S. Gonzalez-Fletcher (D-Chula Vista), and backed by powerful unions such as the AFL-CIO, what this law did was remove a person’s right to choose to work as an Independe...