MBO Partners Proposes Modernization of Independent Workforce Regulations With New "Certified Self-Employed" Designation

HERNDON, VA--(Marketwired - May 3, 2016) - MBO Partners, the largest and most experienced provider of independent contractor engagement solutions, released today its proposal to modify how the U.S. government classifies and regulates independent workers. By streamlining an antiquated and complicated worker classification system, this proposal, titled Certified Self-Employed (CSE): a New Vision for America's Workforce, aims to stimulate innovation, increase tax revenues, and prevent valuable jobs from moving offshore.

"The independent workforce is a powerful, innovative, and rapidly growing economic force in America," said Gene Zaino, founder and CEO of MBO Partners. "As the future of work continues to be performed digitally and globally, businesses have many new ways to get work done. In contrast, businesses encounter growing regulatory complexities when providing jobs to American independent contractors. We must quickly simplify the worker classification structure to keep valuable jobs from leaving American shores."

The proposed national classification system empowers self-employable independent workers who want greater control over both their opportunities for work as well as their responsibilities as their own individual employer. The solution would allow these American independents to compete more fairly for business by removing the burden of ambiguous worker classification risks and costs currently on their potential clients.

This new CSE system allows for easy distinguishing between those who truly qualify as self-employable from those non-self-employable contract workers who may need the protections and benefits provided by existing employment and worker classification regulations. The clarity of the designation is designed to encourage entrepreneurship and unleash the continued growth of the independent workforce and gig economy without diminishing payroll tax revenues or creating a "race-to-the-bottom" for those contract workers who are delivering commodity services.

"By allowing independent workers to declare their professional independence and take on the burdens necessary to be their own employers, we avoid misapplying employee-focused regulations. In doing so, this avoids a major debate on regulatory change, and preserves a system by which taxes and regulations can continue to be more easily enforced," Zaino added.

Unlike previous proposals to manage the booming gig economy, the CSE solution requires minimal regulatory intervention beyond the initial creation of the certification standards. Rather than proposing major tax and employment reform legislation, it creates a unique framework specifically for self-employable independent workers.

The independent workforce currently stands over 40 million people strong, and is projected to grow to include more than half of the American workforce by 2020. Decades after the emergence of independence as a major force in America's economy, this solution is long overdue.

Full details of the proposal can be found at www.mbopartners.com/certified-self-employed.

About MBO Partners
MBO Partners offers the industry's only complete business operating system for independent workers, offering technology solutions that make it easy for self-employed professionals and their clients to do business. By re-envisioning and streamlining the entire contract talent acquisition and engagement lifecycle, MBO improves how independents operate and succeed while helping enterprises reduce risk and get the best return on their contractor investments. To learn more, visit www.mbopartners.com.