Some of the most persuasive testimony I heard at last week’s public hearing in New Jersey was from a woman who was new to me: Cherry Hill resident Tema Steele.
She’s been a New York Life agent, as an independent contractor, for an incredible 44 years. People sometimes call me a longtime independent contractor, but Steele has actually lapped my own 22 years as a freelance writer and editor.
Steele was clear, passionate and dead-on correct last week as she told the state Department of Labor why it’s absolutely critical to preserve the independent-contractor model for financial professionals like her and for her son, who is following in her professional footsteps.
Tema Steele and her son Joel, who works with her.
I don’t have any personal experience working in her industry, but I know it is one of the industries that has been a loud voice in trying to stop the freelance busting right alongside all the rest of us the past half dozen years.
And for good reason: The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors did a survey of its members during our shared battle in Congress over a federal freelance-busting bill, and found an unbelievably high desire to remain independent contractors. That survey found:
Approximately 90% of NAIFA members receive income reported on an IRS form 1099
94% do not want to be treated as an employee for union organizing
95% operating as independent contractors wish to remain so
NAIFA-New Jersey represents more than 400 licensed professionals across the state, and is among countless voices now urging the Labor Department to reconsider its proposed independent-contractor rule. These are the reasons the organization cites:
Now, to be fair, there is one point where I disagree with these good people: They’re asking for a professional exemption to the proposed New Jersey rule. I understand and respect why they feel the need to do that, but we have all seen how the exemption disaster continues to play out in California. Yet another lawsuit was just filed against the state, and a California Assemblyman is now calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate discrimination in terms of who gets exemptions and who doesn’t. Certainly, New Jersey would be pulled into such a federal investigation too.
But at the same time, I could not agree more with Steele and NAIFA about pretty much everything else. We are on the same side here—especially when it comes to the fact that the New Jersey regulators need to reconsider their proposed rule altogether. My testimony went even farther than Steele’s did on that point. I full-on called for the Department to rescind this deeply misguided proposal.
Here’s my conversation with Steele, based on her testimony last week, about why she feels just as passionately as I do that the independent-contractor business model must be protected and preserved.
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Q&A with Tema Steele
I was sitting behind you in the front row as you testified, so you couldn’t see me nodding, smiling and “quiet clapping” as you spoke. The personal details you shared about how you became an independent contractor were so powerful, and your testimony was absolutely amazing for our side.
Would you please share your background here, too?
When I started with New York Life, I was recovering from a painful divorce, raising two young sons—just 2 and 4 years old. This profession gave me what I needed most: a flexible, rewarding and meaningful career as a business owner to provide for my family.
I could drop my sons off at school, meet with clients, and still be home to help with homework and cook dinner. I wasn’t looking for a 9-to-5 job with a boss managing me—I was building a business and raising a family. That independence made me who I am today. I could reach my full potential with no glass ceiling.
So many women feel the same way. There was just another poll that came out about a month ago, from the Independent Women’s Forum, showing that 82% of women do not want government to force them into 9-to-5 jobs. The results of that poll were especially similar to what you’re describing among parents and caregivers:
Your kids are all grown up today, right? How did your plan to be a working-mom independent contractor turn out?
It turned out great. My business has grown into a family legacy—my son has now been a New York Life agent for over 20 years. Together, Joel and I employ a staff of six, something we could never do if we were classified as employees.
Why do you feel so strongly that the New Jersey Department of Labor is missing the mark for people like you with its proposed independent-contractor rule?
The proposed rule misunderstands careers like mine as “gig work.” It would strip away the autonomy that allowed me to build a successful business and family life.
As a New York Life agent, I already have access to health care insurance and retirement benefits, so this rule would provide me with no new benefits, only rob me of my freedom to set my hours, control my own income, set my own work location and hire my own staff.
I hear you on that, and I feel the same exact way about my own career being threatened. And in your profession, based on the data I’ve seen from NAIFA, the life insurance industry here in New Jersey generates 97,900 jobs while contributing $219 billion to New Jersey’s economy, including in commercial, residential and agricultural mortgages, stocks, bonds and more.
That’s a ton of money and careers in the crosshairs. How about your clients? Would they see any upside in you being an employee instead of an independent contractor?
Our clients don’t need us to be employees. They value our ability to offer products from multiple companies, our availability outside normal business hours, and the personalized service we provide.
Reclassifying financial professionals as employees would reduce choices for families seeking financial protection. It would also force many financial professionals out of New Jersey.
Not to mention all the rest of us in the 600-plus affected professions that independent contractors documented out in California. By one recent estimate, about 1.7 million of us in New Jersey earn some or all of our income as independent contractors.
What else would you like the New Jersey Department of Labor to know, on behalf of yourself, your industry and us all?
Please don’t destroy my career—a career that helped me stand on my own two feet and raise my children. Please preserve the independent-contractor model that has worked for nearly a century.
