A recent ruling by the California Labor Commission found a driver for the ride-share company Uber should be classified as an employee rather than a contractor. Uber is appealing the decision. But if it stands it could have expensive implications for Uber and similar platforms?
Shelby Clark is the Executive Director of Peers, a website that provides services and advice for workers in the sharing economy. Clark told "Insight with Beth Ruyak" that the existing social safety net is designed around employers providing benefits to employees.
"Right now, platforms cannot contribute to benefits for independent contractors. As soon as they do, it influences the decision that those workers are actually employees," he says. "And so that’s one reason why that I think we would need to see regulatory reforms.”
Clark’s organization is working on products that would allow contractors to access some protections, like workers compensation.
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