The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled this week that Uber drivers are contractors. The major impact of this ruling is gig workers are unlikely to be able to form or join unions.
This follows a ruling by the U.S. Department of Labor finding that gig workers are independent contractors and not entitled to minimum wages and overtime pay under federal law.
Neither ruling was a surprise.
The Trump administration has been quite clear they prefer less regulation, including in the worker classification arena.
While both rulings are good news for Uber and other gig economy companies, it's not the end of worker classification battles and lawsuits.
Key quote from Bloomberg Law's article on the NLRB ruling:
“The crazy quilt of state law tests for independent contractor status is not affected by the issuance of the Advice Memorandum,” Reibstein told Bloomberg Law. “The primary battleground for independent contractor misclassification issues remains at the state level.”
Worker classification at the state level vary substantially by state. Some states - including Texas, Florida and several others - have passed laws declaring gig workers contractors.
Other states - with California being a key example - have had legal rulings that make it very likely most gig workers should be classified as employees.
And, of course, if a Democrat wins the White House in 2020 their administration is likely to reverse the recent federal rulings.
So the confusion (and lawsuits) around gig worker employment classification will continue.
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