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My name is Renata Carmen. I’m a 35 year old California based freelance writer who has been negatively impacted by the new AB5 bill. This law was enacted with the idea it would protect those who desire employee over contract employment status in situations where it’s been unfairly denied them. This is an important and noble cause, and I’m in no way attacking it. However, because the law is written so broadly, many freelance workers who don’t need these protections, including artists and writers, are suffering as a result.
Under the new law, freelance writers are now limited to a paltry 35 submissions per year to each company. That’s only 2-3 per month, when many of us need to produce 2-3 per day in order to make a living. I was able to work as much as I desire, with an endless amount of material at my disposal. Now, I find myself in a position of losing my primary source of income and risking becoming obsolete. In the internet age, it’s almost impossible to keep up with any genre when one is limited to such a tiny amount of work each month. As an artist, it is imperative that I contribute writings frequently to stay relevant. Additionally, many companies expect their writers to contribute several pieces per week. Due to the extremely limiting nature of AB5, along with the confusing and ambiguous way it was written, many companies are choosing to stop working with California-based freelancers entirely.
Literally overnight, my livelihood has been compromised. The ironic part is, it’s not because there’s no work to be had - but that I am no longer allowed to take that work. I feel like a starving person at a feast.
Let me make something adamantly clear: I LOVE being freelance. I do not want to be an employee for a company. I prefer to be an entrepreneur. As a freelance writer, I get to have ultimate control over my schedule, workload, and choice of projects. I am deeply satisfied and fulfilled by my freelance work, and that’s been compromised in addition to my primary source of income.
This freedom and flexibility is more than simply pleasurable and my right - for me, it’s a necessity. I have debilitating chronic health conditions, including Fibromyalgia, which limits my ability to work a regular daily schedule. Sometimes I’m fine; sometimes I need to recover from a flareup before I’m able to return to work. This is hard enough, but it’s compounded by the fact I’m not legally disabled, so I need to work as much as I can. Working with a chronic illness is a great challenge. It makes life incredibly unpredictable and exhausting. Working freelance from home allows me to rest as much as I need while completing a project. I can work at odd hours when I’m struggling with insomnia, or write on the floor or in bed if I need to because of flares in pain and vertigo. It doesn’t matter when or how I write when I’m freelance, so long as I meet my deadlines. This flexibility has allowed me to make a living and to cultivate a life for myself as a chronically ill person I don’t think would have been achievable otherwise. I’m not the only one. More than 130 million people struggle with chronic illness nationwide, and many make their income through from-home, online entrepreneurship.
What’s more American than that, by the way? The ultimate freedom to have control over one’s schedule, creative expression, and finances, regardless of ability, is about as American as apple pie.
As of this morning, I read that now, other states are considering following suit and passing similar laws. This is a terrifying notion, and must be stopped, before the domino effect that’s happening here to countless people like myself spreads like a pandemic across our great nation.
Please amend AB5 so that it doesn’t include freelance artists and writers.
1/7/2020
Renata Carmen
Under the new law, freelance writers are now limited to a paltry 35 submissions per year to each company. That’s only 2-3 per month, when many of us need to produce 2-3 per day in order to make a living. I was able to work as much as I desire, with an endless amount of material at my disposal. Now, I find myself in a position of losing my primary source of income and risking becoming obsolete. In the internet age, it’s almost impossible to keep up with any genre when one is limited to such a tiny amount of work each month. As an artist, it is imperative that I contribute writings frequently to stay relevant. Additionally, many companies expect their writers to contribute several pieces per week. Due to the extremely limiting nature of AB5, along with the confusing and ambiguous way it was written, many companies are choosing to stop working with California-based freelancers entirely.
Literally overnight, my livelihood has been compromised. The ironic part is, it’s not because there’s no work to be had - but that I am no longer allowed to take that work. I feel like a starving person at a feast.
Let me make something adamantly clear: I LOVE being freelance. I do not want to be an employee for a company. I prefer to be an entrepreneur. As a freelance writer, I get to have ultimate control over my schedule, workload, and choice of projects. I am deeply satisfied and fulfilled by my freelance work, and that’s been compromised in addition to my primary source of income.
This freedom and flexibility is more than simply pleasurable and my right - for me, it’s a necessity. I have debilitating chronic health conditions, including Fibromyalgia, which limits my ability to work a regular daily schedule. Sometimes I’m fine; sometimes I need to recover from a flareup before I’m able to return to work. This is hard enough, but it’s compounded by the fact I’m not legally disabled, so I need to work as much as I can. Working with a chronic illness is a great challenge. It makes life incredibly unpredictable and exhausting. Working freelance from home allows me to rest as much as I need while completing a project. I can work at odd hours when I’m struggling with insomnia, or write on the floor or in bed if I need to because of flares in pain and vertigo. It doesn’t matter when or how I write when I’m freelance, so long as I meet my deadlines. This flexibility has allowed me to make a living and to cultivate a life for myself as a chronically ill person I don’t think would have been achievable otherwise. I’m not the only one. More than 130 million people struggle with chronic illness nationwide, and many make their income through from-home, online entrepreneurship.
What’s more American than that, by the way? The ultimate freedom to have control over one’s schedule, creative expression, and finances, regardless of ability, is about as American as apple pie.
As of this morning, I read that now, other states are considering following suit and passing similar laws. This is a terrifying notion, and must be stopped, before the domino effect that’s happening here to countless people like myself spreads like a pandemic across our great nation.
Please amend AB5 so that it doesn’t include freelance artists and writers.
1/7/2020
Renata Carmen
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