Benjamin Sachs is the Kestnbaum Professor of Labor and Industry at Harvard Law School and a leading expert in the field of labor law and labor relations. He is also faculty director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy. Professor Sachs teaches courses in labor law, employment law, and law and social change, and his writing focuses on union organizing and unions in American politics. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty in 2008, Professor Sachs was the Joseph Goldstein Fellow at Yale Law School. From 2002-2006, he served as Assistant General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Washington, D.C. Professor Sachs graduated from Yale Law School in 1998, and served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His writing has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the New York Times and elsewhere. Professor Sachs received the Yale Law School teaching award in 2007 and in 2013 received the Sacks-Freund Award for Teaching Excellence at Harvard Law School. He can be reached at [email protected].
As Jon wrote in the News and Commentary this morning, Amazon has started a new delivery service called “Amazon Flex.” The service, as the WSJ reports, will allow people to “sign up for shifts through an app that prompts them to fetch packages from mini-warehouses and take them to customers’ homes in as little as one hour.” The Flex workers will be paid about $20 per hour, but will be responsible for their own expenses including car insurance, gas, and health insurance which, according to the Journal, “helps keep costs low.”
From an employment perspective, there are two important things to note about Flex at this point:
One, Amazon is classifying the Flex drivers as independent contractors. Yet, according to the Journal, Amazon will “closely monitor workers’ performance and could suspend them from the program if multiple problems occur.” Amazon will also conduct background checks on applicants, and drivers will be required to use Amazon’s “proprietary mobile routing and tracking software.” It’s too early to make any judgments on the issue – and we’d need to know a lot more facts to know for sure – but there are already some strong indications that independent contractor is the wrong classification for Flex drivers.
Two, Amazon repeats the trope about flexibility and independent contractor status that I recently critiqued. Thus, to quote the Journal, “Amazon said that many workers enjoy the flexibility that being a contractor, rather than an employee, affords them.” Again, being a contractor doesn’t “afford” anyone flexibility, just like being an employee doesn’t require the sacrifice of flexibility. Employee status can be consistent with high degrees of flexibility, including the types that are presumably relevant here: choosing when and how often to work, and driving without direct or immediate supervision.
This is a development worth watching.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
November 26
In today’s news and commentary, NLRB lawyers urge the 3rd Circuit to follow recent district court cases that declined to enjoin Board proceedings; the percentage of unemployed Americans with a college degree reaches its highest level since tracking began in 1992; and a member of the House proposes a bill that would require secret ballot […]
November 25
In today’s news and commentary, OSHA fines Taylor Foods, Santa Fe raises their living wage, and a date is set for a Senate committee to consider Trump’s NLRB nominee. OSHA has issued an approximately $1.1 million dollar fine to Taylor Farms New Jersey, a subsidiary of Taylor Fresh Foods, after identifying repeated and serious safety […]
November 24
Labor leaders criticize tariffs; White House cancels jobs report; and student organizers launch chaperone program for noncitizens.
November 23
Workers at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority vote to authorize a strike; Washington State legislators consider a bill empowering public employees to bargain over workplace AI implementation; and University of California workers engage in a two-day strike.
November 21
The “Big Three” record labels make a deal with an AI music streaming startup; 30 stores join the now week-old Starbucks Workers United strike; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration draws scrutiny over a recent worker death.
November 20
Law professors file brief in Slaughter; New York appeals court hears arguments about blog post firing; Senate committee delays consideration of NLRB nominee.