How long before ...

... we start hearing story after story of papers calling full-timers they've laid off and asking them, "Hey, how'd you like to string for us on your old beat?" I see this being widespread by football season.

 

A friend at a McClatchy paper said no freelancers are allowed to be hired to fill laid-off "beats," according to the current Guild contract. I don't know what happens if it's the same person who got laid off in the first place.

 

That clause is in there to stop newspapers from asking a laid-off reporter to string to save money.

 

Apparently, if you issue a W-2 and 1099 tax form in the same year to the same person, it raises red flags at the IRS. I can think of a few papers that won't hire ex-reporters as freelancers because of that.

 

Yeah, that's what I've heard, as well. My last paper wasn't allowed to hire back any of its laid-off FTEs as freelancers or part-timers.

 

Laid off employees cannot string for the paper. Bought-out ones can.

 

I've worked at papers that violated labor laws without appearing to even know about them. I wonder how many there are like that around the country.

 

The Herald was a Guild shop, so I was informed as to what could and couldn't be done legally. That is one thing unions can do, keep members aware of the law.

 

At one of my stops, the rumor was if you said the word "union" in the building, you'd be taken away and never heard from again.

 

Just like working at Wal-Mart.

 

Wal-Mart isn't anti union, they are pro employee [/zombie]

 

So my paper had layoffs last fall, and one of the sports reporters let go has been stringing for us pretty much since then. Are you saying that's against the law?