Massachusetts Freelancers Can Now Get Paid Family and Medical Leave: Will Other States Follow Suit?
Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2025 6:00 am
Lately, freelancers have been finding themselves in the crosshairs of legislation that can simultaneously help one group and hurt another such as AB5 in California. The bill has been heralded as a victory by labor groups since the forced reclassification by companies like Uber and Postmates would grant more protections to drivers and other app-based workers who are facing genuine exploitation. However, the bill also threw millions of creative and technical professionals under the bus, a vast majority who have fought hard to become and stay independent. At the time of writing, Chicago and New York are battlegrounds for similar bills to pass despite dissent from freelancers and large companies alike although labor groups and lawmakers have shown support.
Then once in a while, we get a victory that does benefit everyone: Massachusetts’ comprehensive paid family and medical leave (PFML) policy has been expanded to cover the self-employed via voluntary opt-in. It is a move that respects employees and independent workers alike and provides a public option for income lost from sickness, having a child, or caring for a loved one.
caregiving is often a significant barrier to starting or maintaining romania cell phone number list a freelance career, the state is setting a phenomenal example.
The Rampant Problem of Lacking Sick and Family Leave in America
Regardless of which tax form you receive and the nature of the work, it is estimated that 1 in 3 private sector workers in America do not have any paid sick days. While workers in low-wage jobs face the brunt of this inequity, there are also plenty of people employed in the professional sector who do not have any paid sick time at all, or abysmally few paid sick days. Family leave can also be utterly lacking or nonexistent altogether. Even in states like New York that mandate 12 weeks of unpaid family leave without firing workers, it is only the city and not the rest of the state that mandates employers to provide paid sick days.
But note that the keyword is “unpaid”. People are often hesitant to go freelance because of the reasonable fear that they could suffer an untenable loss of income if they get sick, despite the flexibility this type of career often grants. But even if you have a regular job, this fear is not totally mitigated.
Because of this massive problem, including physical and/or mental health issues that hamper the ability to hold down a regular job, many chronically ill people turn to freelance work to make ends meet or even find a career that they can thrive in. If you can’t even get guaranteed sick pay without risking termination, demotion, or other forms of retaliation, might as well do it on your own terms as a freelancer, right? The problem is that when a chronic illness flares up or you need downtime from a surgery, it can make both the unplanned and planned aspects of managing a chronic health issue incredibly stressful when you know you could be losing weeks or even months of income.
Even well-paid freelancers will get sick, or have to care for a sick family member. The freelance life offers many incredible benefits that are totally inimitable, but we’re still all made of flesh in the end. And flesh tends to get faulty even if you take care of your health. If your child or spouse gets sick and you need to become a caregiver, it also equates to a loss of income and people in marginalized groups are always disproportionately affected by this.
By having a public fund to contribute to which respects our autonomy, what Massachusetts is doing with PFML is revolutionary despite some of the hurdles involved.
Then once in a while, we get a victory that does benefit everyone: Massachusetts’ comprehensive paid family and medical leave (PFML) policy has been expanded to cover the self-employed via voluntary opt-in. It is a move that respects employees and independent workers alike and provides a public option for income lost from sickness, having a child, or caring for a loved one.
caregiving is often a significant barrier to starting or maintaining romania cell phone number list a freelance career, the state is setting a phenomenal example.
The Rampant Problem of Lacking Sick and Family Leave in America
Regardless of which tax form you receive and the nature of the work, it is estimated that 1 in 3 private sector workers in America do not have any paid sick days. While workers in low-wage jobs face the brunt of this inequity, there are also plenty of people employed in the professional sector who do not have any paid sick time at all, or abysmally few paid sick days. Family leave can also be utterly lacking or nonexistent altogether. Even in states like New York that mandate 12 weeks of unpaid family leave without firing workers, it is only the city and not the rest of the state that mandates employers to provide paid sick days.
But note that the keyword is “unpaid”. People are often hesitant to go freelance because of the reasonable fear that they could suffer an untenable loss of income if they get sick, despite the flexibility this type of career often grants. But even if you have a regular job, this fear is not totally mitigated.
Because of this massive problem, including physical and/or mental health issues that hamper the ability to hold down a regular job, many chronically ill people turn to freelance work to make ends meet or even find a career that they can thrive in. If you can’t even get guaranteed sick pay without risking termination, demotion, or other forms of retaliation, might as well do it on your own terms as a freelancer, right? The problem is that when a chronic illness flares up or you need downtime from a surgery, it can make both the unplanned and planned aspects of managing a chronic health issue incredibly stressful when you know you could be losing weeks or even months of income.
Even well-paid freelancers will get sick, or have to care for a sick family member. The freelance life offers many incredible benefits that are totally inimitable, but we’re still all made of flesh in the end. And flesh tends to get faulty even if you take care of your health. If your child or spouse gets sick and you need to become a caregiver, it also equates to a loss of income and people in marginalized groups are always disproportionately affected by this.
By having a public fund to contribute to which respects our autonomy, what Massachusetts is doing with PFML is revolutionary despite some of the hurdles involved.