Can someone explain what the right approach would be in terms of benefits, for a typical gig worker use case:
Person with part-time job wants to make some extra money. Registers for Doordash, Lyft, Uber. When their (part-time) work ends midday, they log onto Doordash, as it's lunchtime. Deliver a few meals. Now it's the afternoon, food delivery doesn't pay, so they switch to Lyft. Do two rides, but things slow down. They log onto Uber and finish the day like this.
I am not saying everyone uses the apps like this, but this is also a use case. So who should pay and how much in holiday pay, sick leave? Clearly, this person can't be (and doesn't want to be) a full-time employee of either of the companies. Yet they work with all three.
The proposal made in this article is not a far fetched one: and it gives a possible solution for exactly this setup.
Well to me the obvious answer is that those "benefits" shouldn't be coming from the employer in the first place, especially medical.
And if you eliminate that and things like 401k, what else are you asking the employer to provide that you couldn't get for yourself with your money you earned?
But let's assume that universal medical and retirement are off the table. Why should the employee pony up for that stuff when you're only committing to a dozen hours a week with them, instead of 40? In other words, why should the company commit more than the employee does?
The article seems to be saying that the company should commit proportionally to the work from the employee. Well, isn't that what a paycheck is already? If paying them the agreed wages is "letting them fend for themselves", then the solution is obvious: Pay them properly instead, so that they can help themselves.
And what about all the people who already work 3 part-time jobs to get by. How is that any different, and why weren't we previously worried about that, but we are for "gig workers"?
Health benefits-wise, I think a government approach would be the best. Gig workers are "self-employed," meaning they're paying the 15.3% tax on all earnings + personal income tax, so why couldn't that go towards government health insurance?
Person with part-time job wants to make some extra money. Registers for Doordash, Lyft, Uber. When their (part-time) work ends midday, they log onto Doordash, as it's lunchtime. Deliver a few meals. Now it's the afternoon, food delivery doesn't pay, so they switch to Lyft. Do two rides, but things slow down. They log onto Uber and finish the day like this.
I am not saying everyone uses the apps like this, but this is also a use case. So who should pay and how much in holiday pay, sick leave? Clearly, this person can't be (and doesn't want to be) a full-time employee of either of the companies. Yet they work with all three.
The proposal made in this article is not a far fetched one: and it gives a possible solution for exactly this setup.