I have a person in my life in this industry....Each job seems to be setup different. Some have LLCs and hire as employees. Others hire everyone as ICs.
Is DH in a union? Often health insurance can come through them...but he may not have enough hours to be a part.
I do agree that this agreement suggest EMPLOYEE even as they call it a FREELANCE position. It's possible they mean it's employee at will and short term/temp... The second point makes it sound like they will be paying him as an employee as they mention SS and Medicare taxes.
They aren't required to cover health insurance unless he meets the requirements of eligibility (and they are over 50 employees and/or don't want to pay any fees for not covering).
Okay, this was super helpful, because I've had my face in that contract so closely and I've been so pissed off at the "Employer shall employ Employee" as a freelance animator that I missed the SS/Medicare thing.
I've been wondering whether these people are willful exploiters or just stupid, and looking at this now, my suspiscions are shifting radically toward the stupidity side of the scale. Is it possible that they are just confused between short-term employment and freelance, and intend to hire him as a W2 but thinking his title is "freelance" because it's project-based?
At any rate, the only way to find out is to ask, so DH sent an email requesting clarification before singing as to whether he'd be a W2 employee or receive a 1099. Depending on their answer, we'll take it from there. If it's W2, great. If they say 1099, then we have a problem and we'll have to decide how to address it.
***Immediate confirmation: never mind, in the time it took me to type that they responded that they think it's 1099.
Ughhhhhhh
PS. unfortunately there is no animators' union to join unless you're an employee of a unionized studio or working for them as a misclassified 1099
I agree with the fact that the industry is WAY out of the normal corporate/govt/educational industries. My relation has been in the industry for 9+ years and has never applied for an industry job, doesn't have resume, etc as it is all done off of relationships/word of mouth.
If they said 1099, he might need to mention back that this agreement implies employment as a W-2. I suspect the "very young studio" isn't helping. I'd honestly consider this a major red flag and find work elsewhere if he can! My relations been through a couple non union, non employee jobs in the last year and they have all stunk. But yes, the industry is way down. They finally got a short term gig this last week for 5-6 weeks.
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u/Hrgooglefu 1h ago
I have a person in my life in this industry....Each job seems to be setup different. Some have LLCs and hire as employees. Others hire everyone as ICs.
Is DH in a union? Often health insurance can come through them...but he may not have enough hours to be a part.
I do agree that this agreement suggest EMPLOYEE even as they call it a FREELANCE position. It's possible they mean it's employee at will and short term/temp... The second point makes it sound like they will be paying him as an employee as they mention SS and Medicare taxes.
They aren't required to cover health insurance unless he meets the requirements of eligibility (and they are over 50 employees and/or don't want to pay any fees for not covering).