Work on Demand

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremias Prassl
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Arbitrage ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Broader Impacts ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Digital Work ◽  
Global Growth

This chapter explores how the gig economy works. It looks at some of the most important platforms and illustrates their central role in shaping transactions between consumers and workers. Digital work intermediation, in particular, is key to understanding the gig economy: here, platforms’ sophisticated algorithms connect workers and customers, and exercise ongoing control over the ensuing relationships. The chapter then charts the astonishing variety and global growth of the gig economy, with a particular emphasis on how platforms make money, from improved matchmaking to regulatory arbitrage. Finally, this chapter turns to the broader impacts of digital work intermediation, considering how platforms go beyond mere matchmaking to shape the experiences of workers and consumers.

Humans as a Service

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremias Prassl
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Level Playing Field ◽  
Employment Relationships ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Digital Work ◽  
Stable Employment

The rise of the gig economy is disrupting business models across the globe. Platforms’ digital work intermediation has had a profound impact on traditional conceptions of the employment relationship. The completion of ‘tasks’, ‘gigs’, or ‘rides’ in the (digital) crowd fundamentally challenges our understanding of work in modern labour markets: gone are the stable employment relationships between firms and workers, replaced by a world in which everybody can be ‘their own boss’ and enjoy the rewards—and face the risks—of independent businesses. Is this the future of work? What are the benefits and challenges of crowdsourced work? How can we protect consumers and workers without stifling innovation? Humans as a Service provides a detailed account of the growth and operation of gig-economy platforms, and develops a blueprint for solutions to the problems facing on-demand workers, platforms, and their customers. Following a brief introduction to the growth and operation of on-demand platforms across the world, the book scrutinizes competing narratives about ‘gig’ work. Drawing on a wide range of case studies, it explores how claims of ‘disruptive innovation’ and ‘micro-entrepreneurship’ often obscure the realities of precarious work under strict algorithmic surveillance, and the return to a business model that has existed for centuries. Humans as a Service shows how employment law can address many of these problems: gigs, tasks, and rides are work—and should be regulated as such. A concluding chapter demonstrates the broader benefits of a level playing field for consumers, taxpayers, and innovative entrepreneurs.

scholarly journals Employees, workers and the ‘sharing economy’ Changing practices and changing concepts in The United Kingdom

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Freedland ◽  
Jeremias Prassl
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Work Relations ◽  
High Profile ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Changing Practices ◽  
Employment Rights

Abstract: Recent years have seen a radical shift in the practice and profile of the labour economy in the United Kingdom consisting in the considerable growth of the so-called ‘Sharing Economy’ or ‘Gig Economy’, better identified as the ‘On-demand Economy’. From that starting point, it is argued that a corresponding change seems to have occurred in the set of concepts which the labour/ employment law of the United Kingdom uses to analyse and to characterize the work relations and work contracts which are created, made, and operated within this rapidly growing sector of the labour market. Two recent high-profile Employment Tribunal decisions in the Uber and Citysprint cases, and a decision of the Court of Appeal in this same area in the Pimlico Plumbers case have served to confirm the legislative creation of a third intermediate category of ‘workers’ who benefit from a set of employment rights which is more limited than that enjoyed by employees but which is nevertheless very important. This crystallization of labour law’s newly tripartite taxonomy of work relations has occurred very largely in the context of the on-demand economy, and is beneficial to those located in that sector. This is, however, a rather fragile conceptual structure.Keywords: employees, workers, ‘sharing economy’, ‘on-demand economy’, recent cases in UK.

scholarly journals Gig Economy: Value Comparison Against Noncontingent Income and Corporate Employment Benefits

2020 ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ateeb Ayaz Khan
Keyword(s):  
Free Market ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Contingent Work ◽  
Employment Benefits ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The Past ◽  
Contingent Worker ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Nontraditional Employment ◽  
Corporate Employment

The free-market approach of work has risen for the past few years. The on-demand workforce has a preference to stay in nontraditional employment and are generally satisfied with their income and the elasticity of employment that contingent work offers. Independent workers are also less likely to grow their careers in the same manner as a traditional job ensues, and market prevalence influences their wages comparatively more. This paper analyzes the influence which gig economy has posed on the growth of the employee and examines the benefits and deficits of contingent pay and noncontingent pay. In the assessment of conventional employment, corporate compensations such as retirement plans and health insurance add significant value to organizational service. The uncertainty of payment, as well as variable timelines of compensation, disallow a contingent worker to privately retain insurances and savings plans, whereas an employer in a firm typically offers such allowances as standard. This comparison suggests that the value lost in the gig economy is, in fact, the corporate occupational benefits and not the steady noncontingent salary.

scholarly journals THE GIG ECONOMY AND LABOUR REGULATION: an international and comparative approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-79
Author(s):  
Valerio De Stefano
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Approach ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Labour Regulation

This paper deals with the main labour implications of the so-called “gig-economy”. The gig-economy is usually understood to include chiefly two forms of work: “crowdwork” and “work on-demand via apps” (De Stefano, 2016a; Smith and Leberstein, 2015, Sundarajan, 2016).

Levelling the Playing Field

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremias Prassl
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Employment Law ◽  
Level Playing Field ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Gig Economy

This chapter considers the implications of the on-demand economy for consumers and markets. It shows how, for both consumers and workers, the on-demand bargain can unravel rather quickly: users potentially end up paying a much higher price and receive worse-quality services than promised. In addition, the gig-economy business model can lead to significant tax losses, as taxpayers are left to make up the shortfall and subsidize the industry in myriad ways. When these problems for consumers, workers, and taxpayers are added to the questionable economics behind many platforms’ business models, as discussed in the first chapter, it is not difficult to see why some suggest that the platforms should be banned. This chapter, however, argues against such drastic moves: we would destroy all benefits and innovation, and leave at least some consumers and workers worse off. Employment law is key to creating a level playing field for competition, which fosters innovation.

scholarly journals Policy Forum: Sagaz at 20—Evaluating Employment and Independent Contractor Relationships in a Changing World

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 453-473
Author(s):  
Graham Purse
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Independent Contractor ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Work World ◽  
Policy Forum ◽  
Benefits And Costs ◽  
Changing World

In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada decided <i>Sagaz</i>. That decision became an important part of the Canadian jurisprudence that resolves whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. In the subsequent 20 years, the work world has changed. Traditional tests of worker classification may not be appropriate in the new on-demand or gig economy. The multifactor tests that courts use to slot workers into two discrete categories, each with vastly different benefits and costs, are arguably no longer appropriate. Future approaches to this issue should consider either the use of legal tests that are more likely to produce a determination that workers are entitled to various social protections or, alternatively, rules that deem more workers to pay into, and be protected by, various social protections available to employees.

scholarly journals Global financial changes and results in Latin America: à la carte selection of regulation

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (204) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katiuska King Mantilla
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Regulatory Capital ◽  
Regulatory Arbitrage ◽  
Financial Flows ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Banking Regulations ◽  
Illicit Financial Flows ◽  
Loan Losses ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Selection Of

His article analyzes the implementation of the Basel II, II.5 and III rules in Latin American countries by means of specific banking regulations and finds that because the rules were not fully implemented, banks were then able to use some of the principles that give them room for regulatory arbitrage and facilitate illicit financial flows (IFFs). The Basel banking norms supposed that regulatory capital would be a minimum of 10.5%, but equity to asset ratios computed for big banks fell by 0.8% between 2005 and 2015 and provisions for loan losses on assets increased 0.6% in the same period. The on-demand implementation of these standards puts the region at the mercy of an underground globalization that favors IFFs.

scholarly journals France

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (245) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Euro Area ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Structural Reform ◽  
Fiscal Deficit ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Domestic Reform ◽  
Global Growth ◽  
Potential Level

Growth slowed last year as the cyclical recovery ran its course and temporary domestic factors, coupled with slowing global growth, weighed on demand. Nonetheless, activity remained resilient relative to peers, and the labor market continued to improve. The fiscal deficit declined modestly, but public debt reached an all-time high. The government’s structural reform agenda is being put in place and growth is expected to gradually return to its potential level over the medium run. However, risks have risen, related to a disorderly Brexit, trade tensions, and a softening of activity in the euro area, but also to a slowdown in the domestic reform momentum.

scholarly journals Digital cooperatives as channels for digital work in the context of the collaborative economy

2019 ◽  
pp. 75-96
Author(s):  
Francisco Javier Arrieta Idiakez
Keyword(s):  
Social Protection ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Digital Work ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
New Forms Of Work ◽  
New Situation ◽  
Ultimate Purpose ◽  
Descriptive Method

At present different bodies, associations, platforms etc. vary greatly in their definitions of the collaborative economy. This is because there are many differences between models and platforms within the term ‘collaborative economy’. Taking this diversity into account, this study will focus on the platforms dedicated to the provision of services. The first major issue will be the need to delimit and establish links between a multitude of concepts that emerge within the so-called collaborative economy, such as the Gig economy and the On-demand economy. The ultimate purpose is to limit the concept of collaborative economy for the purposes of the research carried out here. It was not for nothing that the European Commission recommended that legislators and courts should review professional regimes in the context of the new economy, while expressing its clear support for collaborative economy platforms in its report ‘A European agenda for the collaborative economy’ (2016). There is therefore a need to address the modality of platform-based work (also called digital work), with the aim of ensuring that standards are upheld regarding the working conditions and social protection of people who provide their services under this modality. This study, then, analyses the challenges, and positive and negative aspects of this new situation. The main conclusion is that cooperatives are the best means to channel the collaborative economy, under the modalities of platform-based or digital work. This will require studying and analysing the new models of cooperatives, and advocating digital cooperatives, outside the so-called cooperatives of self-employed workers, the true cooperative character of which is often doubtful. The conceptual delimitation of digital cooperatives and their differentiation from ‘classic’ cooperatives will also be discussed, which will involve providing some insights into the characteristic features of digital cooperatives. This research uses the descriptive, comparative and propositional legal methods. The descriptive method is used to define the concept of collaborative economy and the sub-concepts that it includes in terms of the provision of services; and to identify new forms of platform-based or digital work, and delimit the field of action of digital cooperatives, as the most appropriate means to channel these new forms of work. The comparative method will be useful to analyse the various existing professional regimes that can accommodate the new forms of work available within the collaborative economy. Finally, the propositional method will argue that digital cooperatives are the best solution to shape work within the collaborative economy.Received: 27 November 2018Accepted: 07 March 2019Published online: 22 July 2019

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