Three Paths to Update U.S. Labor Law for the Gig Economy: Adapt It, Fix It, or Suspend It

The U.S. labor market has diversified considerably in recent decades, and more workers now fall somewhere between full-time employees of a single company and freelance contractors serving their own set of customers. Although Internet platforms like Uber and TaskRabbit still represent only a small fraction of this intermediate market, their rapid growth has shined a bright light on the shortcomings of current labor law.

Please join ITIF to discuss a new report arguing that the common law-based distinction between employees and independent contractor no longer serves workers or companies well and should be updated. A panel of experts will discuss failures of current labor law and three alternative paths to update it for the gig economy: first, adapt it by creating a new category of worker between full-time employee and independent contractor; second, fix it by tailoring each of the country’s major labor laws to achieve their specific goals; or, third, suspend it by temporarily exempting gig economy Internet platforms from ill-fitting labor laws.