Gig Workers Are Here to Stay. It’s Time to Give Them Benefits.

While labor advocates support providing financial assistance to gig workers, many worry that interventions like the recent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance will validate Uber’s contentious claim that their drivers should be classified as independent contractors, not employees. But this is bigger than just ridehail. During the coming recession, as in previous ones, firms that are struggling themselves will likely increase their reliance on subcontracted and gig labor rather than hiring full-time employees. The pandemic has demonstrated that workers’ access to unemployment (not to mention other vital benefits, such as health insurance) shouldn’t depend on their employment status, and that it is in fact entirely possible for the benefits traditionally associated with employment to be detached from any particular job. It’s time for lawmakers to think bigger, and work towards making permanent changes that protect all vulnerable workers – regardless of their employment status – through this crisis and the next.