Office Quandries
Peter Rachleff
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PUNCHING OUT page 1 of 3 | |||||
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Weekly Answers to Office Quandries |
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Professor Peter Rachleff |
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 I'm a full-time, "freelance" employee at a large media company,
meaning I
work 5-6 days a week and am paid a set amount per week, but do not enjoy
any
of the health/insurance/stock benefits that my "staff" colleagues enjoy.
When I was hired, the precise terms of my employment were not defined,
nor
was I hired to work on one specific project. Basically, I took the job
because I didn't have the experience/leverage to set the terms. I was
never
offered a written contract.
I'm now questioning whether or not it's permissible that some employees working alongside me receive "staff" benefits, while "freelancers" work full-time with "staff" status and no benefits. Benefits are extended as a carrot only after paying "dues." The freelance/staff distinction, in terms of individuals' actual work responsibilities, seems almost arbitrary.
What can I do? Matt
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I hate to tell you how typical your experience is! And, unfortunately, perfectly legal. There are no laws (yet) anywhere in the U.S. that
require employers to treat "freelancers" equally with regular, "full-time"
employees, no matter how similar their work responsibilities might be.
There are people, mostly union organizers and labor activists, who are trying
to develop strategies to bring organization to workers in your situation and
to pressure state legislatures or even municipal governments to adopt rules
and regulations that would prevent the sort of discrimination you are
experiencing.