Employment status in the gig economy from the global HR and employment law perspective across EMEA and the US, reviewed by Ius Laboris
The Rise of the Gig Economy
„Should those working in the gig economy have the same rights as employees?“
The Global Impact of the Gig Economy
- It can be dificult to fit gig-economy workers into traditional categories of employment status given the flexibility and autonomy they seemingly enjoy. As a result, in most countries gig-economy workers do not enjoy the rights and protections of employees.
- The response of governments to the rise of the gig-economy is driven as much by taxation as the rights of gig-economy workers.
- Government responses to the gig economy are still in their early stages. No country, as yet, claims to have a ‘solution’ to the challenges posed.
- Increasing numbers of countries are looking at creating an employment status between the traditional divide of employees and the self-employed.
- A common test to determine whether an individual is an employee is the degree to which the individual is subordinated to – or under the control of – the „employer“.
It may be that control and subordination will become increasingly less relevant as employment relationships evolve. One way forward could be to focus on economic dependence instead. Where workers are dependent on one particular platform to make a living, does it really matter how much control the operator of that platform exercises over when and how they work?