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featureA Voice is A TerribleThing to WasteSUBMITTED ANONYMOUSLYBy now a substantial number of Allstateagents have heard or read aboutthe petition requesting a presidential and/or IRS inquiry into Allstate’s tax statusregarding its use of employees versus independentcontractors. Were it not for theefforts of NAPAA educating us about thealternatives to the status quo, most agentswould suffer in silence. Because our officesare without an agent-initiated informationnetwork, we rely on NAPAA’sweekly members-only communiqués andits quarterly magazine to provide accessto information otherwise not readilyavailable to Allstate agents. While themagazine is focused on supporting agentsin their daily business operations, it isNAPAA’s coverage of the “employee classification”issue that has dominated ourworld as of late. Most agents see this issueas out of their direct control, and as such,are tempted to rely solely on NAPAA fordirection and or on them, for action. Thiswould be a mistake.The fall 2009 Exclusivefocus magazinerepresents one of the most dramaticexamples of agent involvement coupledwith the prowess of NAPAA. Emblazonedwith the title “A Call to Arms,” themagazine cover previewed probably themost striking and intense article aboutwhat has become the cornerstone issuefor every U.S. Allstate agent — the misclassificationof employee status. No longerable to remain sidelined, many agentsfinally feel they have an avenue for directinvolvement. But, as important as it wasto mail in the petitions, the job at hand isfar from finished. There must be ongoingefforts to solidify the process.To participate ornot to participateIt is now several months since theAgency Relationship Survey and doubtlessmany agents declined to participateout of fear of retribution or because theyfelt it was a futile effort. However, manydid participate and Allstate corporate willsoon tell us this year’s results. If you responded,then good for you. Contrary tothe notion that taking the survey is a wasteof time, I believe each of our opinionsmatter. I am a 20+ year agent and havetaken the survey at least ten times andhave never been singled out or otherwiseidentified in spite of my extreme criticismof Allstate. Cowering in a corner in fearof retribution or blowing off the surveybecause you think it doesn’t matter, arewasted opportunities. Not speaking outonly serves to validate the company’s illconceivedagenda. To be sure, had everyagent participated in the 2008 survey, onecan only imagine how much different theresults would have been. We need to makea greater effort to get our fellow agents toparticipate in the next survey – only thenwill the company realize how concernedwe are with the status quo.When NAPAA published “DeliberatelyMisclassified?” and included themail away postcard to the IRS, manyagents took the time and mailed the card.As the author of that article, I investedover a year in research and many monthsmore of personal time to construct theelements of the article and piece themtogether. I did this with great sacrificeto my personal life so my fellow agentscould clearly grasp the depth and importanceof the misclassification issue. Afterthe article was published, I was emotionallytaken aback by the groundswell ofsupport that ensued. I am confident thatthousands of postcards found their wayto John Tuzynski’s desk at the IRS. Don’tdoubt for a moment that these smallishpieces of card stock had a huge impact.When “A Call to Arms” was written,the author made a statement about beingat a crossroads in his/her career. No truerstatement could ever be written abouteach and every one of us. We must facethe fact that Allstate has chosen a newpath for us; exclusive of our wishes. Wecan either remain silent or we can speakout. We can stay complacent or we canact. This crossroads that each of us facesis not one of our own making, but the actionwe take next is totally up to us.Discussing even the most serious of issuescan begin with a whisper. And whenenough voices whisper together, the volumecan be deafening. “A Call to Arms”requested each of us take a minute of ourtime and $.88 of our capital and mail away20 — Exclusivefocus Winter 2009/2010
the petitions to the IRS and to PresidentObama. With almost no effort or investment,each of us can turn up the volumeby anonymously requesting a review ofthe path Allstate has consciously chosento take regarding our employment status.This issue is so critical that it is paramountwe not stop there. Now is the time for moredecisive action. This can be monetary, likea NAPAA membership; the small annualdues should never discourage anyone frombeing a member. The benefits of NAPAA’sconsiderable efforts, in my estimation, arepriceless. Each agent who knows of a nonmembershould make at least one phonecall to recruit that agent. Another examplewould be organizing agent groups for a district-typemeeting. If geography limits thepossibility for face-to-face meetings, pick upthe phone. If you have progressed into thetech-savvy wave of communications, thenemail, text, or tweet.The time to sit on the sidelines is behindus. As Allstate ramps up its newIdeal Agency model of the future, manyof us are about to be sent to the sidelinesprematurely. With the complexity of theRFG and the imposition of new quotasfor ALI and EB, Allstate has instituted amassive employee infrastructure that hasbeen designed to cull the agent ranks byhalf our current size and simultaneouslyconfiscate our books of business. Even ifthe timeline is close to the Allstate suggested3 to 6 years, none of us will beable to market our books to prospectivebuyers between now and then. There willsimply be too many agents being terminatedand too few buyers.Note to Allstate: Email meThe next time your manager emailsyou, take a moment and print it out andsave it in a separate file marked “EmployeeEmails.” Too often we open these miniaturemissives and without so much as a glance,send it off to the recycle bin. Almost as often,these documents contain elements ofcommunication that clearly belong in the“employee” column. I especially like those“urging” us to do something, or that statethat failing to make your AFS ExpectedResults is “unacceptable.”Any such email should be printed andsaved in a file folder marked “IRS/Allstate”or saved on a CD, memory stick orstored via some other electronic storagemeans. There is a high probability thatyour MDL or other manager will emailyou a document requesting your attendanceat a mandatory meeting, or highlightingyour territory’s “sales team” EBauto or EB leaders. Some of us may beunlucky enough to receive an email decryingour year to date AFS and RFGperformance. These kinds of emails aregood because they imply consequencesfor failure to meet corporately imposedquotas (employee controls) and bad becauseno one wants to get one. When indoubt, regardless of content, print andsafely file away all emails. No one wantsto have to sue, but it is much easier topresent a jury with scores of printeddocuments than it is to claim that you“received lots of offending emails.”Letters to Congress and SS-8sMore than two years ago, I begansending multiple letters to many congressmenand senators requesting aninvestigation into Allstate’s misclassificationof its agent sales force. Onerecipient was United States SenatorRichard Durbin. Sen. Durbin is Chairmanof the Subcommittee on FinancialServices and General Government. InAugust 2009, after a yearlong investigation,the United States GovernmentAccountability Office (GAO) issued a69-page report on Employee Misclassification(GAO-09-717). Sen. Durbin,with others, requested this report.Whether my letters were significant toMr. Durbin I may never know. I can saythat the amount of attention given tothis subject by multiple agencies is impressive.The GAO document is lengthybut I encourage every agent to read it.Whether you have faith in governmentor not, understand there are thoughtful,intelligent and concerned people whobelieve in holding accountable thosewho would flaunt the law.One noteworthy response to the GAOreport is from the Department of Treasury.Deputy Commissioner Linda E. Stiffwrites: “We recognize that when employersimproperly classify workers as independentcontractors instead of employees,these workers do not receive protectionsand benefits to which they are entitled,and employers may fail to pay taxes theywould otherwise be required to pay.”When you combine the efforts by theGAO, the IRS, individual senators andcongressmen, and state attorneys generalyou can begin to see that the moreour whispers are heard the more theybegin to sound like shouts. If you are ata loss for the proper wording or formatfor your letter or email, Jim Fish fromNAPAA can provide examples for you touse. Don’t assume other agents will takeaction; instead, proceed as though yourcareer depended on it – because it does.The SS-8 filing is an important step inthis process of awareness, too. Althoughthe IRS could make an individual rulingon each filing, it is more likely that a rulingbased on the cumulative effect will bethe desired outcome. What the SS-8 willdo, is provide the IRS with informationthat previously has been unavailable. Thedesired outcome will be a targeted auditof Allstate and its premeditated noncomplianceof the Private Letter Rulingit was granted in 1989 by the IRS.Patience, Persistence, RepeatIn our world of instant gratification, weoften forget that our best rewards are oftenrealized after the sweat has dried fromour brows. No one ever said success comeseasily or quickly. This process many of youare reading about for the first time hasbeen in the works for over two years. It isthrough the dedicated, patient actions ofNAPAA and a few others that we are justnow beginning to see results. But now isnot the time to relax, if anything we muststomp on the accelerator.“A Call to Arms” is the rallying cry forthe actions we must take next. The articleand petitions are not the finale. Eachagent must contribute something. Dustoff your copies of Exclusivefocus. If thereare postcards or petitions that haven’tbeen mailed, tear them out and sendthem in. If you are unsure what to do,reread this article and those from past issuesof Exclusivefocus, such as “A Call toArms” and “Deliberately Misclassified?”Each contains suggestions or outrightdirections for how you can proceed. Andonce you have done at least one thing,go to the next. Don’t stop and I promiseyour voice will be heard.Winter 2009/2010 Exclusivefocus — 21
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