Gig Workers and Job-Related Bias: Are Protections on the Way?

Uber and other companies in the on-demand economy soon may have more to worry about in their battle over work classification than increased wages.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has long maintained that some companies misclassify employees as independent contractors to evade their obligations under federal employment bias laws, and the agency recently stated its intent to look into whether gig companies may be doing the same. The agency’s chair in an interview with Bloomberg BNA reiterated the EEOC’s interest in these sort of “complex employment relationships.”

The agency’s reference to gig and other contingent workers in its October strategic ...