Restoring America

Conservative values, National renewal

Policymakers must protect the independent workforce, not destroy it

By Karen Anderson

Published July 11, 2024 6:00am ET

Policymakers must protect the independent workforce, not destroy it — FILE - A sign stands outside the U.S. Department of Labor's headquarters, May 6, 2020, in Washington. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found numerous safety violations in its investigation of the July 2023 workplace accident that caused the death of Duvan Pérez, a Guatemalan teenager who had been a contract worker at the Mar-Jac Poultry plant in Hattiesburg, Miss., the agency said in a news release on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

One bedrock of the American dream is the ability to be one’s own boss in whatever way one’s talents and ambitions allow. Whether a full-time career, a part-time pursuit, or an occasional side hustle to earn extra income, self-employment provides people with the opportunity to work as they see fit.

Unfortunately, the relentless pursuit to stifle self-employment through independent contracting in certain states and at the federal level is taking that freedom away.