The gig economy lets plenty of companies save large sums of money since there aren’t fixed salaries or social guarantees such as paid vacations or illness time. For employees themselves, such a model also offers lots of advantages — for example, the possibility to be more flexible and independent. 

The situation in general

Nowadays, the gig economy is on the rise. A whopping 36% of all workforce in the whole US, or 59 million people, are gig workers. Gig arrangements give employees more freedom than regular ones, but they also have downsides — they don’t offer guarantees and benefits that traditional workplaces have.

During the last few years, some states and cities have taken various measures to protect gig employees. For example, several bills were passed last autumn in New York to give more rights to food delivery couriers. In Seattle, laws for protecting gig employees were also signed, establishing such things as the lowest wage size, tips, and so on. But the overall size of the gig economy is so huge that it all is like a drop in the sea. On the other hand, the situation is slowly changing.

On July 20, the so-called Worker Flexibility and Choice Act was introduced. It equalizes gig employees with independent contractors, protecting them and giving them all the corresponding rights. Basically, it can lead to a new status for a gig worker — neither an independent contractor nor a regular employee.

The main requirements

According to this act, employers should sign “worker flexibility agreements” with gig workers. Those agreements will guarantee them all the basic rights of regular employees — privacy, safety, and protection against harassment, retaliation, discrimination, and things like that.

To get a new status, you’ll need to go have the following things in your flexibility agreement:

• The right to refuse an offer from the employer so it won’t hinder your attempts to get a job in the future;
• The freedom to do similar kinds of jobs for rival companies;
• An agreement in a printed form containing a complete list of your rights in the workplace and possible benefits.

It’s not so simple

At first glance, this act seems very attractive for gig workers. But it has got one big issue: despite all the aforementioned advantages, federal wage and hour laws still won’t protect these people. Probably, this “drawback” was done intentionally to make this bill more popular among employers. Because of it, various employee-protecting organizations, such as The Worker Power Coalition, heavily criticized this bill.

Their strong negative reaction makes this act rather unlikely to be passed. However, the gig working sphere keeps on developing. The demand for such workers is enormous, and thus, it’s highly possible that laws regulating their rights will appear soon. They are definitely necessary.