Policies for Subcontracting (Was: Job Banks and STC)
Subject: Re: Job Banks and STC
From: "T.W. Smith" <techwordsmith -at- gmail -dot- com>
>>What specific approach would you recommend?
Funny you should ask, because I've been meaning to write up some thoughts on this, and send them to the STC President. Certainly, making employers aware of the STC Job bank(s) would be one major step in the right direction. Currently, many of the jobs come through contracting agencies (job shops), which puts another layer of management between writers and the ultimate employers.
Another major issue is the IRS regulations which make it difficult for companies to hire 1099 contractors directly. These regulations were intended to "benefit" contractors by providing some assurance of benefits (as well as making sure taxes were paid promptly by the companies). But their real effect has simply been to magnify the role of the contracting agencies -- which, once again, just serve as another layer of management, plus take a big cut of the money that would otherwise go directly to us. These IRS regulations should be repealed, and the STC should be lobbying for this. Also, FICA taxes for 1099 contractors should be cut from 15% to 7.5%, to match what staff employees pay.
I realize that these tax issues apply mainly for U.S. contractors, and also that these are contractor issues, while many STC members are on staff. But even for staff members, the STC needs to play a role in encouraging better salaries. As I say, I need to write up some ideas on this.
As a contractor, and as far as contracting goes, I think you can gather from what I've written above that I have some serious concerns about the role of agencies, the contracting houses, that essentially do little more than to bring bodies onto jobs. In response to this, I've developed some policies for working with such agencies, and I'd like to share them with other contractors, and encourage others to consider using the same policies. A link to these policies follows, and anyone who feels them to be useful is free to copy and adapt the text from that particular page of my Web site, for your own business purposes:
http://www.oppenheimercommunications.com/FAQ/Subcontracting.shtml
I would be interested in any comments or thoughts anyone has on these policies.
Regards,
Steven Oppenheimer
Subject: Re: Job Banks and STC
From: "T.W. Smith" <techwordsmith -at- gmail -dot- com>
What specific approach would you recommend?
On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 11:16:56 -0400, Steven Oppenheimer
> >Good God, the STC and various Chapters have their Job Boards backwards.
>
> The fundamental problem with STC, nationwide (worldwide) is that they think
> in terms of professional development for writers, but does not think in
> terms of enhancing employment opportunities for writers.
Steven Oppenheimer, M.A.
Oppenheimer Communications
Technical and Business Writing: From Complexity To Clarity (SM)
Steven -at- OpComm -dot- com www.OpComm.com (301) 468-9233
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ROBOHELP X5: Featuring Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author
support, PDF and XML support and much more!
TRY IT TODAY at http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrl
WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT: New! Document review system for Word and FrameMaker
authors. Automatic browser-based drafts with unlimited reviewers. Full
online discussions -- no Web server needed! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
Follow-Ups:
Previous by Author:
Re: Why we hate/love the STC (Was open letter ...)
Next by Author:
Splitting Things Up? -- The Techwri-L Transition
Previous by Thread:
TECHWR-L Premium Jobs, Events, and Announcements
Next by Thread:
Re: Policies for Subcontracting (Was: Job Banks and STC)
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads