Missing: Independent worker rights and protections

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Welcome to Monday Mornings! This fortnightly publication dives into the new world of work beyond the 9-5, exploring the rise of mass entrepreneurialism. Through sharp analysis and interviews with the builders, thinkers, and leaders driving this shift, we’ll unpack what a post 9-5 world means for individuals, businesses, and society.

Monthly Briefings are always a deeply-researched summary of a particular topic or trend and include the following segments: In a nutshell, Get informed, Trailblazers, A final word (from me) and - your favourite! -  Monday Marvels and Monday Moanings.

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Happy Monday, folks!

In this month’s briefing, we’re exploring the gap in worker rights and protections in a post 9-5 working world.

This February briefing includes:

• The professor who believes we need Universal Basic Income (like… yesterday)

• The shopping list of reforms needed to support America’s independent workers

• How Uber drivers won worker protections

At its core, we’re asking: What protections should “non traditional” workers expect in the future?

Employment rights and legislation varies country-by-country and most often the individual level of protection depends on the employer.

But when a worker doesn’t ‘belong’ to an employer, the protections get murky. For platform workers in the gig economy, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports significant social protection gaps. Just half of workers surveyed were covered by health insurance, less than one third for workplace injury, and under one fifth received any kind of old age pensions — particularly acute among women. This is not just a gig economy concern, either. Employment law does not cover self-employed people in most cases.

One might argue that the ‘enterprising’ individual should accept the trade off of these benefits if they choose the self-employed path. But, as Monday Mornings aims to explore, many workers today are not choosing self-employment, self-employment has chosen them. With shrinking labour markets, many workers are being left with little alternative than to hustle to make ends meet through their own ventures or shift work.

This trend is being compounded by the advent of AI — exposing systemic gaps in unemployment protection. The CEO of OpenAI himself, Sam Altman, advocates for a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to provide security provisions for workers who will undoubtedly be displaced by AI because “if public policy doesn’t adapt accordingly, most people will end up worse off than they are today”.

1/ Why wait until the robots take our jobs? We need a basic income now
(Source: Open Democracy, September, 2024)

Technological progress is not always benevolent, argues professor Karl Widerquist in this op-ed. Even if AI does create more jobs than it destroys, its impact will be widely felt by many workers who discover the skillsets they acquired over a lifetime are suddenly redundant.

Today’s economy is seeing rapidly changing demands for labour but no decline in demand for labour. Suffering, trauma and poverty is almost inevitable in this shift and with less stability comes more gig work and more fear. But this is not inevitable, it is a choice and “we don’t need to be so cruel to the people technology displaces” when Universal Basic Income (UBI) is the solution we need.

UBI would favour the 99% of the population who have largely been unaffected by economic growth over recent decades. He notes that until the mid-1970s, median income rose at the same pace as national income, but in recent years whilst GDP has grown in recent decades its beneficiaries are only the top 1%. Most jarringly, Widerquist references the minimum wage workers who make less in real terms today than they would have in 1955.

To survive the next wave of technological displacement UBI is not a ‘future’ concern, he writes, we already have a punitive and precarious market. He makes a compelling case that it is overdue.

2/   Flexible and Portable Benefits for Independent Workers: Federal Policy Guide
(Source: Mercatus, October 2024)

Mercatus, an American libertarian think tank, set out this Policy Guide to help federal agencies best support the “more than one-third” of the American population who earn income from independent contracting.

They point out that whilst it may be supplemental income for some, for others this is the only form of paid work they can get access to. Policymakers need to catch up to the true needs of this growing nontraditional workforce where many lack access to worker protections and benefits. Some developments in legislation that have attempted to solve these issues have in fact created more challenges, claiming that organisations offering any benefits were violating federal laws.

The Guide recommends seven provisions that would be preferable for independent workers including flexible and portable benefits which do not belong to one employer. Such benefits can ‘travel’ with the workers, who would be able to self-select into the benefits and rights they require. Another reform item suggests workers could join together and access “commonality of interest” health insurance policies and other savings, tax or health care benefits; the same ones that traditional employees have access to. Whilst this is currently available in part to independent workers, the system is set up so that in the US, a 15.3% additional tax currently occurs on health insurance premiums for independent workers.

As the Guide points out, however, similar reforms have previously been submitted, and denied, by federal agencies. Congress will have to step in to override these blocks if we are serious about change.

 
3/  Reshaping the gig economy: union representation and worker protections
(Source: The New Statesman politics and culture podcast, April 2024)

In 2021 the British trade union GMB petitioned Uber to offer a swathe of worker rights and protections such as pension, sickness and holiday pay for its drivers, the intricacies of which are discussed in this podcast episode alongside a parliamentary MP and the host, a journalist for the New Statesman. (Note: the episode is sponsored by Uber but I found it pretty neutral, aside from describing this union ).

In the UK, pension contributions have gone up in recent years thanks to auto enrolment schemes but for the self-employed population, they have gone down.

Gig economy workers are included in this self-employed statistic, where contributions are made by less than 1/6 of workers. But after collective bargaining efforts, Uber now offer an 8% pension bonus to all of their drivers. An approach these podcast guests all agree needs to be adopted across the entire gig economy, where “more and more people are having to work longer out of necessity”.

The GMB rep references a particular (unnamed) platform, who they were in pay talks with about a similar agreement to the one with Uber. But were unable to make things work because this platform only wanted the flexibility to go in one direction. They wanted provisions to ensure workers would show up to the platform at set times… to which, the GMB rep replied, “there’s a solution to that, it’s called offering employment”.

• The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain —  a grassroots and member-led union who push for justice against poverty and insecure work. Members vary from couriers, to cycling instructors, nannies, foster carers and more.

• Freelancers Union — non-profit organisation that operates as a support system for independent workers across the U.S, providing advocacy, education, and benefits and have been instrumental in winning protections.

• Portabl —  a b2b platform for organisations to purchase a suite of benefits and protections for their independently employed staff, such as health, financial and professional development support.

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This week’s “Overhead” comes from Kelly Snodgrass, Founder of Kairos Studios.

“The US job hunt stats are brutal… a community I’m in really shows it first hand. Top talent is not able to find top gigs! Actually is quite interesting… as they are impacting the freelance market being so “desperate” for cash, so they are short term willing to earn money by underpricing their services on a freelance basis.”

👉  _{Want to share your opinion with Monday Mornings? Send it in!}

A Final Word (from me)

Workers rights is a complex subject but I still feel angered at the realities so many workers face. The growth of on-demand services has come at the convenience of its beneficiaries, and at the risk, to those providing the services. There isn’t a day that goes by in London where I don’t see a food delivery driver jumping a red light and putting their own or other’s lives at risk in the process — because their compensation is tied to their speed of arrival.

As layoffs continue, AI’s growth accelerates and the markets get squeezed… the number of self-employed workers will only swell. So, the fact that governments are slow to adapt laws and regulations to respond to the needs of this growing segment of society, is creating a knock-on and negative effect in different parts of people’s lives. Personally, being self-employed has made securing a new mortgage a challenge, and I hear stories of freelancer friends struggling to even secure rental agreements without traditional employment contracts.

Oh, and last night’s Uber driver informed me that the app is taking such a large chunk out of each ride lately, that there is so little room to find a pension contribution from his pay anyway. He has opted out of pension contributions.

From my perspective, discussions about workers rights today must encompass all forms of employment and self-employment.

And, in other news this month….

👍Monday Marvels  

Empty office buildings have found a new purpose, becoming home to strawberries, kale, cucumber and more. Vertical indoor farms have been popping up all around the world, solving the dual problem of vacant offices and the need for local food production options.

👎 Monday Moanings

An analysis by the Trades Union Congress’ (TUC) has found that 0.5m UK workers (almost half of all zero-hours contracts) have been with their employer for two years or more. This comes despite the precarious nature a zero-hours contract brings to workers' security and ability to budget and points to the fact these contracts are being misused.

That’s a wrap for today! I’ll be back in two week’s time talking to an expert in work patterns and an emerging ‘precariat’ class as we continue the worker rights theme. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s topic. What else do you think should be considered? Share your opinions in the comments!

Monday Mornings is written and hosted by Ellen Donnelly, a writer, speaker, and coach focused on the future of work. She specialises in the shift towards mass entrepreneurialism, and supports founders navigating pivots in her private coaching practice, The Ask.