If this is the first you’re hearing about our legal clinic, we’d like to share some details with you!
The clinic offers free legal support for all independent workers nationwide. If you’re a freelancer, that means you. After you have a complaints form on our websiteour legal team will contact you directly and provide immediate, specialized guidance based on your legal questions and concerns. Even if you have already pursued all remedies without legal assistance (i.e. direct appeal to the client, demand letters, attempts at mediation), the clinic can provide you with advice through consultation with our pro bono legal advisor, and if necessary – steps you can consider taking legal action.
As freelancers, we know that you value your ability to decide what work you do and your control over your creative output. When you work independently, you make the decisions that determine how you spend your time without the constraints of a boss. However, it can be extremely isolating if your rights are not respected. Without colleagues to commiserate about possible violations of the law, it can be difficult to know where to turn. All too often, freelance work is taken for granted and clients cut corners, putting your livelihood, your rights and your future at risk.
Every day, freelancers with explicit agreements about the scope of work and payment do not receive timely payment for their work. Three-quarters of freelancers across the country report not being paid on time. When clients delay, dispute, and deny payment for freelancers’ work, it can be overwhelming and unclear where to turn for help. We, at the Freelancers Union, are here to tell you that you do have a solution to these violations of your rights.
The Freelancers Union is proud to have sponsored both the passage of the Freelancers Isn’t Free Act for New York City in 2017, throughout New York in 2024, and to support the growth of freelancers’ rights legislation across the country. The Freelance Isn’t Free legislation requires that freelancers be given a written contract, be paid within 30 days unless otherwise specified, and not be retaliated against. The laws provide for double damages for freelancers who succeed in their claims in court.
If you experience problems including: nonpayment or delayed payment, misclassification by employer, harassment, retaliation, unsafe working conditions of any kind, or other forms of abuse – contact our legal clinic via our complaint form. And if you know other freelancers experiencing similar issues with a specific client of yours, please share the complaint form with them so we can talk to them too. The Freelancers Union Legal Clinic will guide you every step of the way to ensure your voice is heard and your rights are respected.
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