Miriam A. Cherry

'Dependent Contractors' in the Gig Economy: A Comparative Approach

In response to worker misclassification lawsuits in the United States, there have been recent calls for the creation of a hybrid category in between employee and independent contractor specifically for the gig economy. However, such an intermediate category is not new. In fact, the intermediate category has existed in many countries for decades, producing successful results in some, and misadventure in others. In this article, we use a comparative approach to analyze the experiences of Canada, Italy, and Spain with the intermediate category. In our analysis we focus on a set of questions: Is labour law fundamentally outdated for the digital age? Does the gig economy need its own specialized set of rules, and what should they look like? What role does digitalization and technology play in the casualization of work? We ultimately conclude that workable proposals for a third category must also encompass other forms of precarious employment.

Crowdwork, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Fair Labor Practices

Crowdwork, in which large numbers of workers find and perform paid tasks through online platforms, is a paradox. It can make job-matching and production processes more efficient, but it can also lead to a decline in labor standards. We seek to link ethical labor practices in virtual work with well-established notions of corporate social responsibility, that include concerns for worker well-being and fair treatment. We present a typology of trends in labour, and argue that the new phase of ‘crowdwork’ is distinct from previous eras of ‘industrial’ and ‘digital’ employment. The chapter then outlines three best practices for crowdwork. First is fair wages. Second is the need for transparency, or the idea of fully disclosing to crowdworkers information about their tasks, including fair estimates of time and wages, and the larger goals to which their work contributes. Third is due process, that is, ensuring that online ratings of workers are based on fair criteria, and that platforms establish an appeals process for non-payment of wages or poor ratings. Implementation of these practices would offer a better working environment online, and improve the collaborative potential of crowdwork for platforms and workers alike.