New York has two Freelance Isn't Free Acts, not one. The New York City law, Local Law 140 of 2016, took effect on 15 May 2017 and establishes the right to a written contract, to timely and full payment, and to protection from retaliation; it sits in the New York City Administrative Code, Title 20, Chapter 10, and the Office of Labor Policy and Standards inside the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection receives complaints under it. The New York State law came seven years later: on 28 August 2024 it added Article 44-A to the General Business Law, bringing contractual requirements and a formal enforcement process, and a freelance worker who believes their rights under the state law were violated files a complaint with the New York State Attorney General. Two statutes, two enforcing bodies, two complaint routes. Search results and AI summaries routinely merge them, which is how people file in the wrong place.
The position below is New York City and New York State and reflects NYC DCWP and the New York State Department of Labor, current at October 2026. It is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
What is the Freelance Isn't Free Act?
It is the name shared by two separate pieces of New York law, each aimed at the same problem: an independent professional does the work, the client goes quiet, and the amount is too small to be worth a lawyer.
The city version came first. "On May 15, 2017, Local Law 140 of 2016 took effect. The law establishes and enhances protections for freelance workers, specifically the right to: A written contract / Timely and full payment / Protection from retaliation" (NYC DCWP, verified September 2026). Those three rights are the whole architecture of the city law, and they are worth reading in order, because the first one carries the other two: without a written contract, the argument about what was owed and when becomes one person's memory against another's.
The state version arrived in 2024. "On August 28, 2024, the 'Freelance Isn't Free' Act added Article 44-A to the General Business Law to provide protections to freelance workers, including contractual requirements and a formal enforcement process" (NYSDOL, verified September 2026). Same name, different statute book, different enforcement machinery.
Who is covered — and is the New York City law the same as the New York State law?
They are not the same law, and treating them as one is the most common mistake we see in content written about them. The city law lives in consumer and worker protection law: "New York City Administrative Code > Title 20: Consumer and Worker Protection > Chapter 10: Freelance Workers" (NYC DCWP). The state law lives in the General Business Law, at Article 44-A (NYSDOL). Different codes, different agencies, different front doors.
The table below sets out what the two government sources actually say, side by side.
| New York City law | New York State law | |
|---|---|---|
| In force from | 15 May 2017 (Local Law 140 of 2016) | 28 August 2024 |
| Where it sits | NYC Administrative Code, Title 20, Chapter 10 | General Business Law, Article 44-A |
| Complaints go to | Office of Labor Policy and Standards, within DCWP | New York State Attorney General |
| Named penalty route | Corporation Counsel civil action for a pattern or practice, up to $25,000 | Formal enforcement process under the Article |
On who counts as a covered freelance worker, and which engagements are in scope, the definitions sit in the statutes themselves rather than in the summary pages cited here, so this post does not paraphrase them. If you are deciding whether a specific engagement is covered, read the chapter or the article that applies to it, and take advice on your own position.
If you would rather work through this alongside other independent professionals who are dealing with the same clients and the same silences, that is what membership is for.
What must a client put in writing, and by when must they pay?
The city law's first right is a written contract, and its second is timely and full payment (NYC DCWP). The state law is described by its own regulator as carrying "contractual requirements and a formal enforcement process" (NYSDOL).
We are not printing a dollar threshold or a number of days here. Both figures circulate widely online, often attached to the wrong one of the two laws, and neither appears verbatim on the two government pages this post is sourced to. A number you cannot trace to the statute that governs your engagement is worse than no number, because it tells you to relax on a date that may not be your date. Read the threshold and the deadline off the statute or the agency page for the regime that applies to you.
What you can act on without waiting for that is the paperwork. For the state law, "The Department of Labor has developed a model contract that can be used to meet the contract requirements of the Freelance Isn't Free Act" (NYSDOL) — a free, government-drafted starting point, which removes the usual excuse that nobody had a template to hand. If you are drafting your own, our note on what a freelance agreement should include covers the clauses that tend to be missing when a payment dispute starts.
What can an independent professional do if a client does not pay?
Start by identifying which law you are under, because the two routes do not connect. Under the city law, complaints go to the Office of Labor Policy and Standards: the law "requires OLPS to receive complaints, create a court navigation program, and gather data and report on the effectiveness of the law" (NYC DCWP). That court navigation programme matters, because under the city regime an individual violation is resolved in state court rather than by the agency awarding you money.
The city law also has a separate track for repeat offenders. "Where there is evidence of a pattern or practice of violations, the Corporation Counsel may bring civil action to recover a civil penalty of not more than $25,000" (NYC DCWP). That penalty is paid to the city, not to you; it is a deterrent aimed at clients who do this systematically, and it is not a substitute for recovering your own fee.
Under the state law the door is a different one entirely: "If you are a freelance worker and you believe your rights under the law have been violated, you can file a complaint with the New York State Attorney General" (NYSDOL). Not the Department of Labor, and not DCWP.
None of this reaches beyond New York. If your client is in the United Kingdom, this statute does nothing for you and the UK's late-payment rules are the relevant regime instead.
Clients contracting in New York carry the other half of this, and it is cheaper to get the contract right than to answer a complaint.
What does the Act not do?
It does not follow you. These are a New York City statute and a New York State statute; they say nothing about an engagement in another state, and nothing about a client outside the United States.
It does not settle how your work is classified. Whether an engagement is genuinely independent turns on how the work is actually done, and no membership, badge or association changes anyone's legal or tax status.
It does not collect for you. The city regime routes individual violations through the courts, with OLPS running a court navigation programme, and the $25,000 civil penalty for a pattern or practice is recovered by the Corporation Counsel for the city (NYC DCWP). The state regime routes you to the Attorney General (NYSDOL).
And it does not replace advice. Rules differ by jurisdiction and change; this is general information, and your own engagement deserves a look from someone who can see the contract.
Frequently asked questions
Does the New York City law still apply now that the state law exists?
The city law and the state law are separate instruments. Local Law 140 of 2016 took effect on 15 May 2017 and sits in the NYC Administrative Code, Title 20, Chapter 10; the state Act added Article 44-A to the General Business Law on 28 August 2024. Neither government page cited here describes one as replacing the other, so do not assume the 2024 statute swept the city regime away.
Where do I file a complaint?
It depends which law you are relying on. Under the city law, OLPS within DCWP receives complaints (NYC DCWP). Under the state law, you file with the New York State Attorney General (NYSDOL). Filing in the wrong place costs you time you may not have.
Is there a contract template I can use?
For the state law, yes: "The Department of Labor has developed a model contract that can be used to meet the contract requirements of the Freelance Isn't Free Act" (NYSDOL).
Will a client be fined $25,000 for not paying me?
Not for a single unpaid invoice. That figure is the ceiling on a civil penalty the Corporation Counsel may pursue where there is evidence of a pattern or practice of violations, and it is recovered for the city (NYC DCWP).
What if my client is not in New York at all?
Then these statutes are not your route, and you are back to your contract and to whatever regime governs where the work and the client actually sit. Our material for clients sets out the contracting standards we ask both sides to work to.
Standards are easier to hold when you are not holding them alone.
Read the statute that governs your engagement before you read anything else written about it.