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Trainer [40]
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Players as State Employees?
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May 25, 2024, 5:14 PM
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Assuming this settlement plays out as expected and schools end up "hiring" their players, I'm curious as to how it will play out logistically at Clemson. At first glance, it looks like the players would be unclassified, exempt State employees. As exempt employees, they would not have grievance rights like "regular" covered State employees, but in the off chance they were covered employees, they would be able to file grievances related to any number of adverse actions by their employer (i.e., Clemson/the State). How crazy would that be if they could appeal something like a loss in playing time, or having to run stairs for being late to practice, to the State HR Director?
The biggest question I have, though, is how this will play out with workers' comp. Presumably, the players would qualify for workers' comp benefits. I have no clue as to how frequently NFL Players file comp cases, but it seems that over the course of the season, the majority of players will have some injury that would be considered compensable. It's crazy to think that coaches and players might have to leave practice every week to prepare for and attend depositions in comp cases. Then you have team doctors fighting it out with players' doctors over impairment ratings. With all the public schools in the state, it definitely seems that business is gonna pick up for the State Accident Fund.
Plus, I wonder if the players will have to contribute 9% of their salaries to the State Retirement System.
Aside from the issues specific to being considered state employees, it's crazy to think about all the other areas of employment law that may apply. I mean, an "office" consisting of 100 or so 18-to-22-year-old high-T dudes has to be an HR director's worst nightmare. Not to mention the fact that the "job" is inherently competitive and a player who, for example, loses a starting job, might be incentivized to sue. When you think about the relatively large percentage of players who will never play beyond college and who might not have the greatest outlook for their non-football employment after graduation, they might have nothing to lose by rolling the dice and bringing some employment law claim to see what they can get.
I'm sure I've missed some obvious things that would change the analysis, but it's still interesting to think about all of the issues that come with the players being considered employees. It seems like it might be a litigation powder keg.
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110%er [5323]
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Re: Players as State Employees?
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May 25, 2024, 5:44 PM
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A couple of days ago, we saw a quote that stated there would be a push for athletes to be declared by State Laws as NOT employees. I don't have a clue how that can be done and be in compliance with IRS requirements.
As for "exempt State employees", that's a can of worms which places them in the "salaried" class - which seems at odds with the idea of non-employees:
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/exempt-vs-non-exempt-employees/
This is going to be a tangled web.
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All-TigerNet [10841]
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The powers that be are trying like crazy to keep them from being employees.
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May 25, 2024, 6:48 PM
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It would seem to be dishonest, but that's never been a hold up for them before.
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Orange Blooded [3031]
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Re: The powers that be are trying like crazy to keep them from being employees.
May 25, 2024, 6:58 PM
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Players will likely sign NIL contracts to remain non-employee and skirt around Title IX compliance.
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All-In [28071]
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Re: The powers that be are trying like crazy to keep them from being employees.
May 25, 2024, 7:04 PM
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That is exactly how this was designed to work. That's why I kept saying this was a NIL revenue sharing settlement. The schools will buy the player's NIL rights and not all players will get NIL money. That is why the NCAA can no longer interfere with schools being directly involved in NIL ,DEALS.
THERE WAS NEVER ANY INTENTION OF MAKING THE PLAYERS EMPLOYEES.
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CU Guru [1176]
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The players are going to be employees.
May 26, 2024, 8:22 AM
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The NCAA can't honestly claim that pay for play isn't a salary.
They also can't have public university NIL that competes with athletes' private NIL contracts. If they do, it's straight back to court for more lawsuits and injunctions.
Claiming that salaries are NIL as a ruse is simply more price fixing. Price fixing is what is getting the NCAA smoked in court.
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All-In [26594]
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Orange Blooded [3031]
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Re: The powers that be are trying like crazy to keep them from being employees.
May 25, 2024, 7:33 PM
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The University has been working with IPTAY for sometime to prep for a re-structure so that IPTAY likely will take the revenue sharing funds and distribute to the players as NIL agreements. I believe they still need some legislation to pass in Columbia before they can move forward. Atleast that’s how I understood it.
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110%er [5323]
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Re: The powers that be are trying like crazy to keep them from being employees.
May 26, 2024, 8:14 AM
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If that happens, there is the likelihood that universities will buy the player's NIL rights and keep the NIL income in the school's fund. There would be instances where a school could gain more NIL income for the school than what they pay the student for his/her NIL rights. That should make for an interesting seed for a players' union. I suppose the player would then become a "contractor" and not a salaried exempt employee.
There could also be situations where a player gets very little-to-nothing for rights and the school pays something in excess of what was initially agreed to with the student.
My read is that the players focus will become entirely on how much money they can get and the entire sport of football may blow up and fold.
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Associate AD [802]
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Re: The powers that be are trying like crazy to keep them from being employees.
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May 25, 2024, 7:41 PM
[ in reply to Re: The powers that be are trying like crazy to keep them from being employees. ] |
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Hopefully the IRS will issue a ruling making them employees nationwide. Remember when the geniuses in our state legislature tried to make the Teacher Employment and Retention act (TERI) for SC teachers only but the IRS ruled it applicable to all employees in SCRS. But this should be great fun to watch from afar. Welcome to the real world kiddos.
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CU Medallion [55371]
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Yep - more fun than a barrel of monkeys.... but
May 26, 2024, 8:20 AM
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who here wants to jump into a barrel of monkeys?
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