Leigh Osofsky, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Delivery workers and others who ensure most people don’t have to go outside for essential goods are creating what economic theorists call an uncompensated ‘positive externality.’
A scholar of the American safety net explains how, through her own brother, she’s getting a personal window into what it means to face COVID-19 as a worker in the gig economy.
If government and business collaborate with workers, a scholar of labor relations writes, current economic problems could get less severe, the recovery smoother and lasting prosperity more likely.
Three federal public policy changes impacting employed and contingent workers could significantly buffer anticipated impacts of automation, Artificial Intelligence and a changing economy.
A growing number of jobs are becoming less stable, with fewer benefits and stagnating wages. This is taking a significant toll on the psychological health of workers.
Many vulnerable workers aren’t covered for work-related injuries and illness. Employment law is largely a federal matter while compensation schemes are state-run, but there’s a way to fix the problem.
It isn’t easy, but musicians build ‘portfolio careers’ by being adaptable, multiskilled and willing to learn, so they can pursue creative work that they believe in.
That the Fair Work Ombudsman brought a case against Foodora suggests its workers are most likely to be classified as employees. This could dissuade other platforms from offering similar benefits.
The California Supreme Court made it harder to classify workers as independent contractors. But it’s not quite the ‘game changer’ some observers claim it to be.
While disability carers are employed to work part-time hours, they often have long work days with short periods of work interspersed with non-work periods.
Many gig workers are classified as independent contractors, leaving them without minimum wages and other workplace protections. Creating a new category of worker could fix that.