Gig Economy Workers- Employees or Contractors?

• In Event: 2481 - Sociology in Practice Settings Symposium Roundtable Session
  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 03. Emerging Methods

Abstract

The “Gig Economy” workforce is large and continues to grow. One significant issue for these workers is whether or not they are accurately classified as “independent contractors” rather than “employees”. There are frequent legal claims against many companies alleging that the independent contractors who are working at Gig Economy companies are in fact “misclassified” as independent contractors (e.g., Uber, Lyft).
The classification of a worker as an employee has significant implications. From the worker’s perspective, classification is significant because independent contractors are not “employees” and therefore do not receive employee protections granted by FLSA, such as minimum wage, overtime pay, and benefits.
To determine whether a worker may be legally classified as an independent contractor, various factors must be considered. One critical component is a measure of the degree of control the company exerts over the worker. Operationalizing the concept of “control” requires an in-depth understanding of the organization’s operations because some forms of control are more evident, such as how and when the worker is paid, while other forms may be more challenging to measure.
To collect data relevant to answering this legal question we use a comprehensive methodology which involves collecting and analyzing data from multiple perspectives and sources: (1) workers, (2) company leadership, (3) employer “points of contact”, and (4) secondary sources of data. This methodology often includes utilizing a variety of data collection methods, including: interviews, observations and surveys. These enable us to characterize many of the relevant factors which help business leaders and the courts determine whether to classify workers as employees or independent contractors.
Berkeley Research Group has executed this methodology at different organizations under attorney-client privilege but can talk about designing, executing, and analyzing the data collected at different firms and describe how it relates back to the ultimate legal question at hand.

Author

• Elizabeth Arnold, Berkeley Research Group