This Act will provide resources for freelancers to claim overdue payment from clients. Although applicable to all freelancers, I thought it would be of interest to our community.
“… the law mandates that freelancers be paid in full for work worth $800 or more, either by a date set forward in writing or within 30 days of completing an assigned task.”
Wouldn’t it be great to have this kind of protection everywhere else?
http://gothamist.com/2017/05/15/freelancer_law_nyc.php
(Article by Emma Whitford on Gothamist)
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Thailand
Local time: 22:27
English to Thai
+ ...
My case related to freelance translation non-payment was in 2014 but I am not living in NYC. I do not think I will be protected by this law. Now I proceed this case in a court of another country. In recent days I become very happy since I "won" the defender on many steps in court and imagine that I may defeat a dishonest largest translation agency located in NYC. The output is expected to be judged by year 2018. The dispute amount is nearly USD 10,000.
Soonthon L.
United States
Local time: 11:27
Spanish to English
+ ...
I am very sorry to hear of your difficulties, but I have to say that I wonder why you allowed an unpaid debt of $10,000 to accumulate in the first place. My own limit for any outsourcer (even those I've worked with before and consider reliable, those who have sterling BB ratings, etc.) is more along the lines of $3000-$5000. And for those without such grounds for trustworthiness, a good deal less.
I say this not "to pour salt in your wound," but to alert collea... See more
I am very sorry to hear of your difficulties, but I have to say that I wonder why you allowed an unpaid debt of $10,000 to accumulate in the first place. My own limit for any outsourcer (even those I've worked with before and consider reliable, those who have sterling BB ratings, etc.) is more along the lines of $3000-$5000. And for those without such grounds for trustworthiness, a good deal less.
I say this not "to pour salt in your wound," but to alert colleagues to exercise proper risk management.
A reasonable approach on a large project involving an amount exceeding $4000 or so would be to set a debt limit and require payment of that balance before taking on further work. Most reasonable agencies will agree to such an arrangement. If they do not, that is a huge red flag.
And anyone who allows a massive debt to accumulate needs to know that they risk facing the very problem that Soonthon has described here. ▲ Collapse
Thailand
Local time: 22:27
English to Thai
+ ...
A reasonable approach on a large project involving an amount exceeding $4000 or so would be to set a debt limit and require payment of that balance before taking on further work. Most reasonable agencies will agree to such an arrangement. If they do not, that is a huge red flag.
And anyone who allows a massive debt to accumulate needs to know that they risk facing the very problem that Soonthon has described here.
It is exactly what you are saying. Risk management is not easy for recent translation projects when price level descends and excessive competition is in place.
My strongest advantage against non-payment is collections of wisdom and knowledge on how to manage with debts, thanks to information out of large volume translation I have done so far.
In short, I insist that the "Copyrights Law" is still the powerful authority to defend against non-payments.
Soonthon L.
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