[Lnc-business] contractors and delegate status at convention

[Elizabeth Van Horn]

Wes, first I want to thank you for bringing all the details of this 
situation to the attention of the LNC.  After reading through 
everything, I have no objection to the current policy regarding national 
convention attendance and participation.

That being:  "(not being compensated at the convention, covering their 
own expenses, a contractor and not an employee) that they are allowed to 
serve as delegates at the convention if they'd like to and are picked up 
as delegates by a state."

Again, thank you for sharing this information.


---
Elizabeth Van Horn
LNC Region 3 (IN, MI, OH, KY)
Secretary Libertarian Party of Madison Co, Indiana
Chair-LP Social Media Process Review Committee
Vice-Chair Libertarian Pragmatist Caucus
http://www.lpcaucus.org/

On 2018-03-08 13:50, Wes Benedict wrote:
> Dear LNC:
> 
> I wanted to open up a discussion regarding convention attendance and
> participation by 1) Staff Employees, 2) Staff Contractors, and 3)
> Non-staff Contractors. This is for disclosure purposes, to review the
> LNC's policies, to disclose my personal additional restrictions and
> recommendations, and to also give the LNC time to make any policy
> adjustments you might want to make.
> 
> It matters now because I think we have some staff contractors willing
> to pay all of their expenses, including flight, hotel and as much as a
> Gold Package, to attend the convention, and in those cases I want to
> make sure it's also okay for those people to serve as delegates.
> 
> There are three categories mentioned in the first paragraph above, and
> I'm describing them below:
> 
> 1) Staff Employees - people listed here https://www.lp.org/staff/ that
> meet the government's definition of "employee."
> 
> 2) Staff Contractors - people listed here https://www.lp.org/staff/
> that meet the government's definition of "contractor" (confirmed by
> legal counsel).
> 
> 3) Non-staff Contractors - people NOT listed here
> https://www.lp.org/staff/ that might have been a vendor or done some
> contract work for the LNC for compensation, like ballot access
> petitioners, some graphic designers, telemarketers, etc.
> 
> You can find examples of who's in what category on page 30 of this
> 2017 page document:
> 
> https://www.lp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017_08_19-20-LNC-Minutes-approved.pdf
> 
> The LNC's Policy Manual, Section 2.01 subsection 3) Employment Terms:
> 
> Page 20:
> https://www.lp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180115_LNC_Policy_Manual.pdf
> 
> "Employment agreements shall specify in writing that registering as
> delegate to any national
> party convention constitutes an immediate resignation of employment."
> 
> That section clearly prohibits 1) Staff Employees from being
> delegates. that section does not prohibit 2) Staff Contractors or #)
> Non-staff Contractors from being delegates.
> 
> The LNC's Policy Manual, Section 2.03 subsection 4) Conventions:
> 
> Page 30:
> https://www.lp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180115_LNC_Policy_Manual.pdf
> 
> "4) Conventions
> The Party shall not directly or indirectly compensate or otherwise
> underwrite or subsidize the
> convention travel, lodging (excepting room upgrades which the Party
> received at no cost),
> entertainment costs or speaker fees/honorariums of any Convention
> delegates. This policy
> shall not prohibit the Party from underwriting organized convention
> events offered to all
> donors of a particular level. Nor shall it prohibit delegates from
> receiving complementary
> meals or access to convention events in rough proportion to their
> level of volunteer work. All
> volunteer compensation must be approved by the Convention Oversight
> Committee, and
> contemporaneously published when actual compensation is received. "
> 
> That section prohibits everyone, including 2) Staff Contractors and 3)
> Non-staff Contractors from having expenses covered by the Party and
> being a delegate.
> 
> But, staff contractors paying their own way appear to be allowed to be
> delegates, and that's been our practice in prior years.
> 
> In case it helps to use a specific individual as an example, I'll do
> that here. Our Press Secretary, Richard Fields, is a contractor, and
> plans to attend our 2018 Convention in New Orleans at his own expense
> (paying his own airfare, hotel, and purchasing a convention package).
> While I would have liked for the party to bring every staff member
> including Richard to the convention and to cover all of his expenses
> to attend the convention and have him "on the clock" while there and
> writing press releases, we try to keep our convention costs under
> control and so I've only selected a portion of our staff I feel are
> the most critical to have on location at this convention. Since
> Richard is paying his own way to be there, and since he's not an
> employee, I think he is not breaking any rules if he decides to serve
> as a delegate at the convention. Richard is NOT intending to serve as
> a delegate, so his situation is entirely flexible on this matter.
> However, I wanted to bring this issue up the the LNC because I think I
> would be correct in saying that Richard is allowed to serve as a
> delegate if he chooses to.
> 
> My intention is to inform Richard and any others that fit his similar
> situation (not being compensated at the convention, covering their own
> expenses, a contractor and not an employee) that they are allowed to
> serve as delegates at the convention if they'd like to and are picked
> up as delegates by a state.
> 
> If there's substantial disagreement with my previous sentence, I'd
> like the LNC to clarify the situation further by amending the Policy
> Manual as needed. And, if I see discussion along the lines of
> seriously considering a change, that will help me help staff make
> educated guesses on how important it is to keep various options open.
> 
> I am comfortable with the current policy, or with a policy amendment,
> though I lean towards keeping the current policy and practice.
> 
> Thanks,