About two weeks ago I posted an article on my Facebook page from the AZ Central website that discussed how certain cities were asking people who work from home to be licensed. I then asked for others’ opinions on this. Though I got only two opinions, I wanted to share them with you, as well as share my views:
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 OneTruConscious
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Professional Media Web Developer, Writer, and Blogger. |
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GrowMap
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Frequent Guest and Co-host Guest on #VCBuzz http://viralcontentbuzz.com/index.php/marketing-strategy-for-small-businesses-with-gail-gardner-growmap-vcbuzz/ Guest on #blogengage http://www.blogengage.com/blogger/blogengage-pre-twitter-chat-topic-using-twitter-effectively-for-bloggers/ Regularly attend #vcbuzz #myblogu #weddbar #socialcafe #blogchat Often attend #dadchat #atomicchat and others Wrote about the difference between Twitter chats and Twitter parties http://growmap.com/twitter-chats-twitter-parties/ Often co-host officially or unofficially. Go out of my way to promote Twitter chats for others and teach people to use them. |
Q. Should people who work from home need to have a license? Why or why not?
A. mattbgates (Web Developer)
Absolutely not, unless there is some benefit to it. It’s like charging a tax to work at home. At the moment, we are losing every bit of freedom we have. We have to go to work — where we are now forced to pay for healthcare. If we work from home, we have to find a means to get our own healthcare. I can go apply for a job anywhere and get it — my driver’s license is likely needed to prove who I am, so that type of license, sure. But anything else? I should be able to make some money out of the comfort of my own home — of which if it is a noticeable amount, I’d likely have to report it ot the IRS, and with the license, is just yet like another tax. So I’d be against it.
A. GrowMap (Small Business Marketing Strategist)
Creating more bureaucracy, taxes, and fees is certainly not what our already-struggling economy needs. We already had ridiculous examples of licenses that are totally unnecessary – such as the one that prohibited a little girl from braiding people’s hair without a license.
While it is comforting to people to think that if someone has a license they will be more competent, that is not always the case. Licensing, fees, and zoning have traditionally been used by the more affluent who already have businesses to protect themselves from any hardworking, less affluent people trying to improve their financial positions and possibly competing with existing businesses.
Licenses should only be required of people whose work is hazardous to others, if at all. This is why hairdressers who bleach and dye hair using chemicals that can do harm are required to be licensed. But when taken too far, we prevent little girls from braiding hair to earn pocket money or even start their own businesses.
Even a child running a lemonade stand is illegal in many locations. If we want the economy to improve and for people to be able to replace the jobs that have left first world countries with freelancing, the fewer roadblocks we erect, the better.
What do I think?
I agree with both Matthew and Gail – people should not have to be licensed to work from home. The only license they should have to hold, are any licenses required for their particular profession. And of course, anyone who runs a business out of their home should have to meet the already established guidelines for their specific business, but other than that no one should have to have a license simply for the privilege of working from home.
What do you think? Should people have to be licensed to work from home? Feel free to comment below.
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