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The ubiquitous presence of the Internet and social web applications have given rise to new opportunities for free-lance workers. Identified by various names, one such identification as gig-economy has been a coined phrase to describe interactions wherein a worker signs on for a gig, or usually limited time job such as a musical performance. The phrasing has also been extended to the sharing economy referring to consumers in some way sharing their property with users or renters, and also referenced as peer-to-peer sharing. Examples of such gig economy activities include residential sharing such as with Airbnb and Couchsurfing, transportation sharing with Uber and Lyft, home tasks with Taskrabbit, and even pet sitting with Dogvacay. Considered by this article, however, are the developing issues resulting from broad, more intensive use of the gig economy by companies in acquiring workers, and specifically the classification of those workers as either employees or independent contractors. For purposes of this article the bulk of the commentary will be directed toward the transportation company Uber due to its lead in the industry and pervasive presence both nationally and internationally. Structurally, Section I of this article will review Uber's method of operation; Section II will appraise various methods of characterizing workers, and the impacts of characterization as either independent contractor or employee; Section III will look specifically at specific recent and current litigation involving Uber; Section IV will identify several recent legislative attempts to provide guidance; and, Section V will propose that the most efficient system to resolve many of the issues presented specific to Uber and similar business models would be a commonality of statues, much as done with the Uniform Commercial Code, with recognition at the national level.
I. The Uber Model
Uber is perhaps the poster-child for success in the sharing/gig-economy. At the time of writing of this article Uber is subject to a class action lawsuit in California, O'Connor v. Uber Techs., Inc.,1 which was subject to a settlement agreement, but such agreement was not approved by the court.2 Some of the commentary will therefore recognize the status of Uber worker's contingent on settlement.
Started in 2009 as an alternative to traditional taxi service, estimates of Uber's worth vary in estimates up to near $65 billion dollars.3...