The current state of affairs in the employment environment challenges the relationship between businesses and gig workers.
Current laws and lawsuits have pushed independent, contract workers under the heading of employees. This default is most likely out of exasperation as the legal system is seemingly biased in favor of providing employer-sponsored benefits and entitlements regardless of the worker’s current status.
As a result, many companies that want to use the services of independents often face penalties (or the threat of penalties) for not providing all the standard protections of an employer-employee relationship. These fines and costs can make for a less-than-friendly environment for the American gig worker and cause businesses to send these opportunities elsewhere to avoid these penalties.
The legal system is being reactive as each case lends itself to defining the new employer-worker relationship. Discussions are heating up with proposals on what other worker classification groups and rights may look like. To date, there is no unified platform for businesses and workers to help tell their stories and engage in a productive dialogue.
The various legal and governmental entities have an underlying goal to ensure workers do not get taken advantage of, that they are educated as to the proper “safety nets” around pay and benefits and that a reasonable tax structure be enforced to collect its share of the pie. Today, they are operating off old, legacy standards, inapplicable to the gig economy, while trying to understand and instate new ones. It’s like trying to build a plane while in the air. And, because of this, business, particularly the new platform intermediaries, and workers may not get what they need or want.
But, what if, the concerns of government could be alleviated and the maturity of workers and businesses could be respected? What if there was a third-party, educational resource that took into account the collective wishes of both workers and businesses? What if this third-party association was able to assemble providers of legal, accounting, health benefits, financial planning, and any other service deemed important to protecting workers, into an educational, agnostic forum? What if businesses could tell their workers that if they attend an educational seminar at least once a year they could stay up-to-date with the current gig economy issues, they could remain a driver at Uber or a specialist at TaskRabbit, or achieve another desired outcome? And, what if the government could help determine the best outcome for workers via education rather than courtroom interventions?
This is the mission of National GIG. We are working today to build a board of trustees of concerned businesses to further develop educational forums. These forums would be made up of key industry service providers who together will ensure that businesses have the flexibility to adopt and implement business strategies that include independent workers while such workers enjoy a work/life balance with “safety nets” important to their health and welfare. Under this model business and workers can win. And, so too, government entities that are so rightly concerned about the viability of businesses and their workers.
Won’t you join us?
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