BILL:	A.6698-A (Silver)
SUBJECT:	Department of Labor oversight of independent contractor/client relations		A.6698-A (Silver)
DATE:	February 6, 2012

This bill would expand the authority of the Department of Labor by empowering it to get involved in private contractual matters between private independent business persons and their clients. The Business Council opposes enactment of this legislation.

• The Department of Labor is not the arbiter of contractual and other affairs between private parties and therefore has no business being involved in:
  • Requiring written agreements between clients and independent contractors
  • Dictating the contents of private contracts between private parties
  • Establishing payment terms between private parties
  • Setting record retention periods beyond those already observed by businesses
  • Taking sides in the event a disagreement arises between private parties
  • Initiating civil and criminal legal action as an outsider to private party contracts and agreements
    
  These are simply inappropriate areas for government agency involvement in the affairs of private parties and this bill should not give government agencies the standing to do so.
  
  
• By definition, independent contractors are not employees. Each independent contractor has decided that this is the employment model that (s)he chooses, understanding that it has decided advantages and disadvantages over the more traditional employer/employee relationship. This has not changed.
• Having one’s own business carries the traditional business responsibilities for marketing, sales, contracts, accounts payable, accounts receivable and cash flow management as well as individual planning for insurances and retirement savings. This business model has never included the same degree of state and federal government agency involvement as more traditional employer/employee models. Nor should it now. This business model operates with an entirely different set of voluntary risks and rewards than the traditional employer/employee model.
• While it is understandable that some independent contractors desire active involvement by government in their business affairs with their clients, such involvement through this bill would change the very nature of the business model and the client/independent contractor relationship and should be rejected.

For these reasons, The Business Council opposes this legislation and respectfully urges that it not be enacted by the New York State Legislature.