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 ...