Hello to all of you.
I'm somewhat new here, although I've been reading some of the information and opinions shared on this site for about a year now.
I've been working as a recordist for indie films, regional commercials, corporate shoots and PSA's for about 6 years now (in the New England area), slowly building up my experience and a solid, repeat client base. This past week I was contacted to work on a project for 3 days in January, as part of a health care video. I exchanged emails with my initial contact person and then we spoke over the phone and all seemed well. I inquired about paperwork formalities and he told me he'd check with the HR person, but that he thought they would only require a W9 and possibly a standard form contract. The following day I was contacted by the HR person who forwarded the necessary paperwork, which I filled out, but hadn't yet sent. A day or two later both he and she contacted me to inform me of some changes in their company's contractor policies which were required by the state of Connecticut and the Federal government. Two of the stipulations were that I needed to have a business license and a $1,000,000 general liability insurance. I informed them that I had neither of these things and had never worked on a shoot where they were required.
The HR person initially told me that they would skirt these policies this one time, as I may or may not be covered under this new law. She said that the state was forcing these businesses to require this info from contractors as a "back door" maneuver to catch people that were not paying for health insurance, etc. Since I might only be doing a few shoots a year for them, potentially, it would still be way under the 500 hours that the state was trying to keep an eye out on.
Another day later, I received another email from this HR person with 2 more contracts and a statement saying that I would indeed need to meet these above requirements afterall and fill out additional paperwork.
Obviously, I'm running a business, albeit a very small freelancing one, and I'm aware that I need to follow local, State and Federal laws, but has anyone else encountered this and if so, what advice could you recommend? For one small job, and for not that much money, it seems like a hassle. Insurance of any sort gives me the willies, but considering my investment, it's probably high time I look into it. Does anyone have any suggestions? At least for my gear.
Thanks in advance.
Djim Reynolds
By the way, I didn't mention it but I'm based in the Boston area.