Gigging With Benefits Proposed as Answer to Existential Threat

Gig-economy companies fighting to keep their contractor-based labor model from being legislated away are trying to sell a compromise: let us keep our independent workforce in exchange for a pledge to invest more in a safety net for workers.

Companies including Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., Postmates Inc. and Instacart Inc. are lobbying to establish a portable benefits system like New York City’s Black Car Fund for their drivers and other contract workers, in an effort to keep other states from passing laws similar to California’s Assembly Bill 5.

That legislation, which makes it harder to categorize workers ...