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A safety net for the self-employed
A man working on his laptop in his pajamas
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TEXT OF STORY
Bob Moon: We've told you that unemployment claims are at an all-time high. Well, at least some people have benefits coming. If you don't work for a company, you can fall through that safety net. A group representing independent workers wants to change that situation, as our senior business correspondent, Bob Moon, reports.
Bob Moon: The self-employed and many contract workers are out of luck if their work dries up. That worries Don Bertschman, a freelance writer in Pittsburgh, PA -- even though he's found enough work to get by so far.
Don Bertschman: A month from now, I could have no work -- then there is no unemployment insurance.
He's far from alone, says Sara Horowitz. She heads the New York-based Freelancers Union, which calls itself "a federation of the unaffiliated."
Sara Horowitz: A third of the workforce is now working freelance, or independently. So we need to update the unemployment system written in the 1930's.
The group wants Congress to create a rainy day fund for those people.
Horowitz: Savings they put away, and then have a government match so they could use that money for the downtimes.
Writer Don Bertschman says he would definitely rest easier with that kind of plan:
Bertschman: If there was a system set up for freelancers to let them create their own safety net, I would pay into that kind of system.
Many independent workers aren't eligible now because jobless benefits come from taxing employers.
I'm Bob Moon for Marketplace.
There are alternative solutions that already exist to solve these issues (since the late 1980’s no less), no legislation required, and companies like MBO Partners are at the forefront. Freelancers and independent consultants can use a Portable Employer of Record service to "hire themselves" and then take advantage of all the big company benefits that traditional employees get.
These non-traditional professionals can plug into the “traditional†employment infrastructure and get unemployment insurance, worker's comp, true group health insurance through major carriers, and more, solving a number of problems in one swoop.
Our Congress has enough to work on this year without being hopelessly ensnared in the discussion of new entitlements (you’re proposing a government match?).
