August 11th 2022
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Last year’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act gave some gig workers — usually classified as independent contractors — a tax cut. But the most vexing tax challenges facing these workers are not high rates but convoluted rules and tremendous compliance obstacles that leave them...
This post follows up on our prior post, which focused on the complex provisions of the proposed Senate tax bill. This post discusses some of the key concerns that have been expressed about the new tax bill. (Again, we focus here on the Senate version of the proposed legislation. The specifics of the analysis may change once we get the Conference version, though the broader policy and design questions are likely to persist.)
Tax reform is in the air. On Thursday, November 9, Senate Republicans released a Description of the Chairman’s Mark (prepared by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT)), which contains in substance the Senate version of proposed tax reform legislation. Among other things, that JCT description stated that the bill would clarify the treatment of many workers as independent contractors by providing a safe harbor that, if satisfied, would guarantee such treatment. But in the modification to the Chairman’s Mark released on November 14, that safe harbor provision was stricken from the Senate bill.
Some gig economy startups are eschewing the route Uber and Lyft have taken and are, instead, classifying their workers as employees, not independent contractors. What I’ve referred to in the past as the “poster child” of this strategy is Managed by Q, which began...
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear the consolidated cases of Murphy Oil USA, Epic Systems, and Ernst and Young today, David Freeman Engstrom penned an op-ed in the New York Times arguing for workplace class actions. He noted that as union membership and...
The New York Times opinion page profiles unemployment "in black and white," examining the factors driving the phenomenon in which the overall unemployment rate for black Americans (7.4%) is almost twice the overall unemployment rate for white Americans (3.8%). The...
I've been reading Alex Rosenblat's excellent work on Uber, and want to emphasize one of her findings, a finding that is highly relevant to the employment question but one that we haven't highlighted sufficiently on the blog. (For other coverage of Rosenblat's...
I thought readers would appreciate the opening paragraph of a new article on regulating ridesharing platforms: In 1933, Elizabeth Rhone called Try Me Cab Company’s advertised phone number to order a cab. The company dispatched a vehicle bearing its logo....
South Africa's Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), in an in limine ruling, has found that Uber drivers in South Africa are employees within the meaning of the law. The order is available here. The facts found relevant by the tribunal...
The answer: No. Through Shahani's reporting, Uber drivers give clear voice to the key legal arguments about employment status. The picture of control that emerges from these interviews is unmistakable. It's a terrific piece - and a highly recommended...
The Department of Labor announced today that it has withdrawn two memos (so-called Administrator's Interpretations, or AIs) issued by David Weil's Wage and Hour Division in 2015 and 2106. The first AI concerned the definition of employment under the Fair Labor...
Last week, The National Law Journal published an update on state legislation and lawsuits regarding the classification of gig economy workers as independent contractors. First, the article noted that the Florida Legislature has passed a bill, expected to be signed...