News
NC bill would expand benefit options for independent contractors
House panel advances a bill allowing businesses to help fund benefit accounts for independent contractors without reclassifying them.
News
States explore benefits for gig economy workers
As freelance work, side hustles, and the gig economy continue to grow, the question of employee benefits has taken center stage. During the John Locke Foundation’s 2026 Carolina Liberty Conference, David Iglesias from the Libertas Institute discussed the importance of making benefits portable for those who are not traditional W-2 employees. According to data from the US Bureau of Labor...
Opinion
Let workers be more independent
Are you an employee or a contractor? This isn’t simply a matter of what you call yourself, or how you think about your relationship to those who pay you to perform services. Because formal employment is the subject of so many local, state, and federal rules, its definition is spelled out in law — and...
Opinion
Direct primary care pays off for one N.C. county government
Once considered too good to be true, direct primary care is generating tangible benefits for one N.C. county government.
Opinion
To Pay More, Employ Fewer
North Carolina governments have long been above average in staffing levels and at or below average in employee compensation.
Opinion
Who You Lookin’ At?
Most lawmakers either don’t understand it or don’t care, figuring that they’ll be out of office by the time the bill comes due.
Opinion
No. 963 Is It Easy To Measure Progress?
With talk of recession in the air, we’re seeing more stories about whether households have really gotten ahead, economically speaking, in recent years. Some analysis shows the average household’s wages and income have actually retreated this decade. Some say this has been the situation for longer than three decades.
Opinion
The Dream is Alive & Kicking
Productivity grew 53 percent from 1987 to 2007. American workers' real compensation per hour grew by 46 percent. Even that small gap is less than meets the eye.
Opinion
Act Before the Fiscal Wreck
A new report proposes that North Carolina stabilize the cost and improve the offerings of the state employee health plan by creating health savings accounts. Look close to home for a precedent.
Opinion
Sticking It to State Employees
Gov. Mike Easley said that he would veto the state budget if it included an extra $22 million for state-employee raises — this in a $17.2 billion budget chock full of wasteful spending. The threat was preposterous.
Opinion
Labor’s Rumplestiltskin
What do early retirement buyouts at General Motors, IBM and Progress Energy have in common with the state of North Carolina's temporary worker tempest, and the 35-hour European work week? All are cost-cutting measures, and the result of past compensation packages too high for current market conditions.
Opinion
Report lists myriad ways to improve ‘LGBTQ climate’ at UNC-Chapel Hill
UNC-Chapel Hill needs a great deal more courses in "Sexuality Studies," special theme housing for gay students, domestic-partner benefits for gay faculty and a revision of dependent benefits to include unadopted children in a domestic-partner arrangement, and the creation of a new campus office, complete with directors, staff, and an advisory committee, to consolidate academic and support resources for gay students, faculty, and staff.
