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CNN To Start Making Freelancers Wait 3 Months For Payment

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Rudy Takala Contributor
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CNN is reportedly set to impose a “net 90” payment term on freelance employees beginning in June, meaning the company’s freelancers will be paid just once every three months.

“In a blow to their financial stability, CNN sent a letter to several of the network’s freelancers this week, extending their payment terms to net 90 (payment 90 days after invoice). The change is to ‘be better aligned with our corporate requirements,’” a Twitter user named Marcus DiPaola said on Tuesday night. (RELATED: CNN Lays Off Almost Entire Division, Surprises Employees As ‘Crazy Rumor’ Comes True)

The move has met with significant blowback.

“Net 90 is NOT a reasonable payment term for people who must pay rent every 30 days,” Freelancers Union Executive Director Caitlin Pierce wrote on Thursday. “CNN is effectively asking freelancers to finance the cash flow of a multi-billion dollar company by waiting one quarter of a year for payment.”

The CNN Headquarters is pictured in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., October 29, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Aluka Berry

The CNN Headquarters is pictured in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., Oct. 29, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Aluka Berry

Pierce said the law challenged New York’s “Freelance Isn’t Free” law, which sets a 30-day standard for payment.

CNN said in a letter to employees that it was “working with Citi to provide a financing tool … with a process to get paid faster than 90 days.” (Related: CNN Issues Correction After Identifying Virginia Gov. Northam As A Republican)

CNN commonly hires freelance employees to fill writer, producer and photographer positions, among many others. The arrangement saves the company money, in part, by reducing health insurance costs imposed by President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The legislation required large companies to provide insurance for employees who work at least 30 hours weekly.

CNN also eliminated more than 100 full-time employees this month via buyouts.

“We have nearly 4,000 people at CNN,” a spokesman said at the time. “Around 100 of them exercised the option for a program that was offered. That’s it.”

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