Legislative Package for Freelance Creative Workers

In mid-May 2020, the ARé Cultural Foundation issued a statement declaring that if the National Assembly and the Government of Armenia do not pay proper attention to this issue and take measures, the entire freelance sector of Armenian creative industry will become extremely vulnerable and find itself near to disappearing. It might take several generations of hard work to restore the situation. We also presented articles and national radio/television programs inviting the attention of the members of the National Assembly and the Government.

The developments of the problem reached the National Assembly. During one of its sessions, the Minister of Culture stated that it appears near to impossible to help a part of the society, which is not visible by any legislative acts. He also said that it is difficult for the state even to determine who is the freelance creative and thus identify this part of society.

Our organization decided to help both the legislative institute and the governing bodies, as well as ourselves. We began our research to learn about the laws governing relations between freelance creative workers and the state in Europe (particularly in Germany and France), which clearly define the concepts of "freelance" and "self-employed". They have invented the tools to identify and register freelance creatives, designed tax and security systems.

We formed a working group of professional art critics, policymakers to implement a background field research and analysis of local and international data on the freelance creative workers and legislation packages of different countries and Armenia resulting in two reports. Based on this data and together with Jura, economy and law experts prepare a draft proposal package for the Standing Committee on Culture of the National Assembly. Continue working with the Standing Committee to create a legislation package for freelance creatives in Armenia, which will be suggested as a draft document for discussion and further adoption to the National Assembly.