In the News

The rise of the so-called “gig economy” — loosely defined as a market of freelance, self-employed and contract workers, often with low-to-median skill levels, who make a living performing a succession of short-term assignments — has been changing what it means to have a job in America. As those effects continue to be seen across the country, we should welcome a growing number of experiments with alternative ways to provide what long have been considered essential workplace benefits and protections.

For more than 80 years, federal and state labor laws have taken for granted the existence of clear lines between employees and contractors. Employers set employees’ schedules and exercise significant control over how they do their jobs; in exchange, they are held responsible to provide certain guaranteed benefits.

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