Trasie S wrote:
I have a meeting with a lawyer tomorrow to try to make real sense of this all.
What I wasn't aware of before I started digging is that what I wrote about Upwork offering clients and freelancers its Upwork Payroll W2 services has always been part of its offerings to help clients correctly classify the freelancers they hire. This wasn't a reaction to AB5, but a long term policy (even before AB5, California had pretty clear laws governing the difference between an employee and a contractor).
Yes, I was aware of the W-2 offering from Upwork. If you are able to share any insights, post meeting, that would be great. The fact remains, for most freelancers on this site, Upwork is an escrow agent. Their normal course of business is connecting freelancers with clients, by that measure I would think any work I perform effectively passes test 2. Now, for larger enterprise clients, I have a different view.
Speaking for myself, so many of my projects have been short term and the majority (in my non-legal opinion) do pass the second test (i.e. not in the normal course of business - I provide technical/business writing) - I don't see how I would ever be an employee. Furthermore, I work with a lot individuals and entrepreneurs, who are paying out of pocket. It sounds like you and I may have different clients/backgrounds.
All this said, I am fully prepared that large companies, who want to work with me, will only do that via W2, which is fine with me. I recall from this thread, your prespective is different.
