Defining ‘Employee’ in the Gig Economy

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

JULY 18, 2015

There is a long history of businesses that try to deprive workers of the protections and benefits they are entitled to under the law by wrongly treating them as independent contractors, rather than employees. Now, some workers and regulators are accusing companies like Uber, which connects cars with passengers on mobile apps, of doing the same thing to the thousands of drivers, couriers and others who work for them.

Agricultural businesses, textile mills, construction firms and other enterprises have often classified workers as contractors to lower their costs by, for example, not paying workers the statutory minimum wage and overtime, not making Social Security contributions and not offering workers’ compensation for on-the-job injuries. Just last month, FedEx agreed to pay $228 million to settle a class-action suit brought by truck drivers who said their classification as independent contractors was wrong because they were required to work 10 hours a day, wore company uniforms and drove trucks that carried the company’s logo.

In recent years, app-based businesses like Uber, Lyft and Instacart have grown rapidly,

[…]

Continua qui: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/opinion/sunday/defining-employee-in-the-gig-economy.html