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Full-Text Articles in Law

Uber In The U.S. And Canada: Is The Gig-Economy Exploiting Or Exploring Labor And Employment Laws By Going Beyond The Dichotomous Workers’ Classification?, Yasaman Moazami Aug 2017

Uber In The U.S. And Canada: Is The Gig-Economy Exploiting Or Exploring Labor And Employment Laws By Going Beyond The Dichotomous Workers’ Classification?, Yasaman Moazami

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.


Uber Drivers: A Disputed Employment Relationship In Light Of The Sharing Economy, Nicholas L. Debruyne Jul 2017

Uber Drivers: A Disputed Employment Relationship In Light Of The Sharing Economy, Nicholas L. Debruyne

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Ride-sharing companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. (“Uber”) have revolutionized the ride-sharing industry. In the realm of employment classification, Uber has a substantial financial motivation to classify its drivers as independent contractors because it frees Uber from financing workers’ compensation programs, payroll taxes, and employee benefit programs. Others argue that Uber should not be able to escape such direct liabilities. In light of this ongoing debate, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has recently denied Uber’s class-action settlement agreement, thereby preserving the issue of whether Uber drivers should be classified as employees or independent contractors. Federal …


Square Pegs Do Not Fit In Roun Holes: The Case For A Third Worker Classification For The Sharing Economy And Transportation Network Company Drivers, Carl Shaffer Apr 2017

Square Pegs Do Not Fit In Roun Holes: The Case For A Third Worker Classification For The Sharing Economy And Transportation Network Company Drivers, Carl Shaffer

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.


Invisible Bosses For Invisible Workers, Or Why The Sharing Economy Is Actually Minimally Disruptive, Deepa Das Acevedo Jan 2017

Invisible Bosses For Invisible Workers, Or Why The Sharing Economy Is Actually Minimally Disruptive, Deepa Das Acevedo

Faculty Articles

Because the idea that sharing economy companies operate as invisible bosses is central to many critiques of this new approach to labor exchange, Part I begins by explaining just what it is about their authority that makes it “invisible.” Part II extends this discussion to two earlier developments that, like the sharing economy, also significantly transformed the way Americans work: the franchise explosion of the 1950s and the spread of the independent contractor model in the late twentieth century. This article is the first to offer a detailed comparison of work practices used by sharing economy companies, franchises, and some …


Agency Law And The New Economy, Mark J. Loewenstein Jan 2017

Agency Law And The New Economy, Mark J. Loewenstein

Publications

This article considers the status of workers in the "new economy," defined as the sharing economy (e.g., Uber, Lyft) and the on-demand economy. The latter refers to the extensive and growing use of staffing companies by established businesses in many different industries to provide all or a portion of their workforce. Workers in both the sharing economy and the on-demand economy are, generally speaking, at a disadvantage in comparison to traditional employees. Uber drivers, for example, are typically considered independent contractors, not employees, and therefore are not covered under federal and state laws that protect or provide benefits to employees. …


The Sharing Economy And The Edges Of Contract Law: Comparing U.S. And U.K. Approaches, Miriam A. Cherry Jan 2017

The Sharing Economy And The Edges Of Contract Law: Comparing U.S. And U.K. Approaches, Miriam A. Cherry

Faculty Publications

Technology and the rise of the on-demand or sharing economy have created new and diverse structures for how businesses operate and how work is conducted. Some of these matters are intermediated by contract, but in other situations, contract law may be unhelpful. For example, contract law does little to resolve worker classification problems on new platforms, such as ridesharing applications. Other forms of online work create even more complex problems, such as when work is disguised as an innocuous task like entering a code or answering a question, or when work is gamified and hidden as a leisure activity. Other …