New York to Become Next Worker Classification Battleground

The legal and lobbying battle over whether gig workers are employees or independent contractors is moving to New York. Lawmakers in Albany are working on legislation that could create a new “dependent contractor” category, while a coalition of advocates wants to force more companies to give workers the full slate of rights and protections that comes with being an employee.

Model Threat: The legislative wrangling comes as Uber, Lyft, and other companies that connect workers to customers through online platforms are under fire for treating those workers as self-employed entrepreneurs. That means they don’t get wage, unemployment, workers’ compensation, and ...