Under growing threat by a new U.S. administration insistent on reclassifying ride-hail and food delivery workers as employees with full benefits, gig economy companies including Uber, Lyft, Doordash and Instacart are pushing to keep drivers' independent contractor status, albeit with additional benefits.
Facing growing threat by a new United States administration insistent on reclassifying ride-hail and food delivery workers as employees with full benefits, gig economy companies including Uber, Lyft, Doordash and Instacart are pushing to maintain their drivers’ independent contractor status, albeit with additional benefits.
The companies, whose business models rely on low-cost flexible labour, argue that surveys show the majority of their workers do not want to be employees, saying a new generation of workers wants to choose when and how much to work.
They hope to convince US officials and lawmakers to drop attempts to reclassify gig workers as employees, efforts that have gained urgency with the election of US President Joe Biden, who campaigned on the promise of delivering benefits to gig workers.
THE STANDARD
SCI & TECH
By Reuters | April 30th 2021
Under growing threat by a new U.S. administration insistent on reclassifying ride-hail and food delivery workers as employees with full benefits, gig economy companies including Uber, Lyft, Doordash and Instacart are pushing to keep drivers independent contractor status, albeit with additional benefits.
The companies, whose business model relies on low-cost flexible labor, argue that surveys show the majority of their workers do not want to be employees, saying a new generation of workers wants to choose when and how much to work.
They hope to convince U.S. officials and lawmakers to drop attempts to reclassify gig workers as employees, efforts that have gained urgency with the election of U.S. President Joe Biden, who campaigned on the promise of delivering benefits to gig workers.
Biden s new labor secretary says gig workers should be classified as employees By Irina Ivanova Lyft takes on bike-sharing
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh thinks many gig workers should be categorized as employees with health and retirement benefits, a stark reversal from the policies of the Trump administration.
The top U.S. labor official expressed his views on gig workers for the first time in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. We are looking at it but in a lot of cases gig workers should be classified as employees. in some cases they are treated respectfully and in some cases they are not, and I think it has to be consistent across the board, Walsh, a former union leader and mayor of Boston, told the media outlet.
Leaked Google email reveals ties to new pro-tech group
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Google is pretty cozy with the new industry group run by a former Google executive, a leaked email shows. Walsh walks back:
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh caused a stir with his first comments about how gig workers should be classified.