Categories
Local On-Demand

Can you train contractors without becoming a legal employer?

The gig economy is a powerful force in commodity service markets, such as driving or “ride sharing.” More sophisticated services that require training, which courts have repeatedly ruled put companies in the legal position of employer, creating liability and increasing costs, especially legal costs, will reshape the development of business tools. The evolution of software […]

Categories
Local On-Demand

Uber’s December EU court loss has global consequences

Lexology analyzes an important employment and regulatory decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union after the Spanish Asociación Profesional Élite Taxi, a driver’s union, challenged Uber’s operating model in Barcelona. The court, which is the highest in the E.U., sided with drivers.

Categories
Local On-Demand

Marketplace Fees Under Pressure: Uber Settles With Drivers, Again

Uber headed off a class action lawsuit by 2,000 New York-area drivers this week, with a promise to pay $3 million to end a dispute over the fees it imposes on those drivers. It is evidence that marketplaces will see more pressure to lower fees in order to retain workers.  The ridesharing company has settled […]

Categories
Local On-Demand

Tax Bill Lowers Taxes For On-Demand Workers, If They Incorporate

Several articles (New York Times, Bloomberg, and Lexology) in recent days have examined the potential for gig workers to cut their taxable income by 20 percent. There is, however, a trade-off. Workers must incorporate to gain the tax cut. Incorporating voids the argument that giggers are employees. Corporations are not employees; they operate based on […]

Categories
Local On-Demand

GrubHub court signals drivers could be considered employees

JDSupra, the legal news service, points to a filing in Lawson v. GrubHub that bodes ill for labor marketplaces, such as GrubHub, Uber, Lyft, TaskRabbit and, well, the rest of the on-demand economy.  Last week, the plaintiff’s attorney, Shannon Liss-Riordan, submitted a Notice of Supplemental Authority that points to a pending decision by a New […]