Reference no: EM133480624

Following the last Recession in 2008, a number of workers became unemployed for an extended period of time due to persistently high unemployment rates in the US. During this time, a number of disruptive companies started to operate in the US, such as Uber, where the company would bring workers on-board who needed a "side hustle" that would permit flexible work periods, and relatively low supervision. Generally, to work for a company like Uber involves having your own vehicle, driver's license, and the ability to accept ride-share assignments through an app developed by the company. Rather than paying workers by the hour, Uber generally paid workers by the completed ride, where Uber would take a network fee from the total payment made by the rider.

Other companies formed later with similar business models such as DoorDash, Lyft, etc. Do you think that the workers for these "gig" economy companies are employees or independent contractors? Consider the various tests for employee status discussed in the article by Rachel Cohen entitled "The coming fight over the gig economy, explained" (Oct. 12, 2022).