Gig Worker Organizing Exempt From Antitrust Penalty, FTC Says

Independent contractors and gig workers who organize or collectively bargain are shielded from antitrust liability under a decades-old labor exemption, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.

The agency issued a policy statement to clarify its views on labor organizing, which is exempted from penalty under antitrust laws. That exemption doesn’t depend on the legal classification of the worker but rather if individuals are organizing or bargaining over wages or working conditions, the agency said.

Companies’ increased reliance on independent contractors and gig workers—who don’t have the same union protections under federal and state law as employees—motivated such a move, FTC ...