Misclassification in Construction: The Original Gig Economy

ILR Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 001979392097232
Author(s):  
Mark Erlich
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Regulatory Environment ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Independent Contractors ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Underground System ◽  
Recent Attention ◽  
Enforcement Policies

The misclassification of employees as independent contractors has been the focus of recent attention as a result of the implementation of that employment model by ride-share and other gig employers. But the practice long predates the emergence of the gig economy, particularly in the construction industry. This article traces the history of misclassification in construction and the subsequent emergence of a cash-based underground system of compensation, which have lowered standards and been among the major causes of the decline of union density in the industry. In addition, the author examines the regulatory environment at the federal level, which has largely enabled misclassification as well as attempts by state agencies to adopt more aggressive enforcement policies.

scholarly journals The More, The Better? A Case History Of Audit Committee Regulations

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-110
Author(s):  
Songtao Mo ◽  
Yifan Shi ◽  
Yajing Wang
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Case History ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Audit Committees ◽  
Regulatory Environment ◽  
Regulatory Changes ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
History Of

An understanding of changing auditing regulatory environment is vital in preparing students for the challenges in the accounting profession. The revised requirements for audit committees are one of the significant changes after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Presenting a case history of regulatory changes for audit committees, this study requires students to critically analyze information and to conduct research on auditing topics. Meanwhile, integrating further discussion on corporate governance into auditing class can enrich students learning experience by stimulating critical thinking.

The evolution of LIBOR

2019 ◽  
pp. 29-52
Author(s):  
Oonagh McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Environment ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S

This chapter provides a brief history of LIBOR, the London Interbank Offered Rate, tracing both market developments and the macro-economic and regulatory environment in which it was created. Beginning as an informal measure used in the London Eurodollar market of the 1960s, LIBOR made the transition to a formal benchmark in the mid-1980s, eventually becoming the most widely used benchmark in the world by the late-1990s.

Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 161-164
Author(s):  
Eric A. Posner
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Independent Contractors ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Social ◽  
Market Fragmentation ◽  
Social Surplus

Many people are worried about the fragmentation of labor markets, as firms replace employees with independent contractors. Another common worry is that low-skill work, and ultimately nearly all forms of work, will be replaced by robots as artificial intelligence advances. Labor market fragmentation is not a new phenomenon and can be addressed with stronger classification laws supplemented by antitrust enforcement. In fact, the gig economy has many attractive elements, and there is no reason to fear it as long as existing laws are enforced. Over the long run, artificial intelligence may replace much of the work currently performed by human beings. If it does, the appropriate response is not antitrust or employment regulation but policy that ensures the social surplus is fairly divided.

Capital vs. Digital Labor in the Post-industrial Information Age: A Marxist Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-60
Author(s):  
T. Kumar ◽  
Lalatendu Kesari Jena
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Social Production ◽  
History Of Capitalism ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Industrial Age ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post Industrial

In the third millennium AD, humanity has reached the phase of the post-industrial information age. This age is characterized by the ubiquitous usage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in all aspects of social reality. ICTs are not just a tool for automation of social production but are qualitatively different from other preceding technologies. It can be understood that ICTs are situated at the cutting edge of current global capitalism. There is a danger that ICTs are enhancing capitalist consumerism by converting the “complete human being” into the “complete consumer.” ICT-enabled “telework” has changed the “political economy of the home,” so that more surplus value can be extracted. ICTs have influenced the contestation of time between capital and labor that has been happening all through the history of capitalism. “Telework” and flexible production have influenced workers’ powers of collective bargaining. There are new challenges in organizing workers in the gig economy. When the ontological roots of ICTs are situated within the neo-Marxist Habermasian framework of critical theory, its potential for human emancipation is understood. On the contrary, there is also a danger that ICTs may end up as a tool to consolidate and strengthen the existing powers of the bourgeoisie. After engaging with such issues, this article surmises that the nature of the relation between capital and labor in the post-industrial information age is qualitatively different from the earlier industrial age. Nevertheless, it concludes that the possibilities of labor getting into a more just relation with capital and in the process bring about a more equitable global social order still exists.

scholarly journals Construction of ropeways in Slovakia in terms of pre-construction design using helicopters (case study)

2019 ◽  
Vol 263 ◽  
pp. 01002
Author(s):  
Andrej Bisták ◽  
Zdenka Hulínová
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Transport Mechanism ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Positive Experience ◽  
Site Location ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Construction Design ◽  
History Of

Ropeways usually provide access to locations inaccessible to other means of transport. Due to this fact, the construction of ropeways is extraordinarily taxing in terms of both, technology and logistics. The site location is often in terrain difficult to access, which often precludes deployment of common construction mechanisms in ropeway construction. In such case, it is advisable to deploy a transport mechanism independent of the terrain – a helicopter. Functioning as “flying cranes“, the helicopters have been used in construction industry in Slovakia for six decades now. Having amassed positive experience, even the “conventional“ construction industry of the time, especially its ropeway transport segment, started to use the benefits of helicopters, with helicopter deployment subsequently gaining ground and becoming the mainstream technological procedure. Ropeway construction can hardly be feasible without them even nowadays. Throughout the history of helicopter deployment in construction industry, a constant search of improving the efficiency of their work has been under way, necessitated by the helicopter’s sensitivitiy to weather conditions and work procedures alike. The paper presents an analysis of the factors affecting helicopter operation together with a proposed methodology of modeling their work in simulation models and the benefits of such approach.

scholarly journals Seamen, Railroad Employees, and Uber Drivers: Applying the Section 1 Exemption in the Federal Arbitration Ace to Rideshare Drivers

2021 ◽  
pp. 525
Author(s):  
Conor Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Physical Movement ◽  
Employment Contracts ◽  
Independent Contractors ◽  
Interstate Commerce ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
History Of ◽  
Legal Difficulties ◽  
The Relationship

Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA or the Act) exempts “seamen, railroad employees, [and] any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce” from arbitration. In 2019, the Supreme Court held in New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira that this provision exempted independent contractors as well as employees. This decision expanded the reach of the section 1 exemption and may affect the relationship between ridesharing companies, such as Uber, and their drivers. Previously, ridesharing companies argued that courts must enforce the arbitration clauses in their employment contracts because their workers were independent contractors and, therefore, section 1 was inapplicable. Since this argument is now prohibited by the holding in New Prime, rideshare drivers have an opportunity to avoid arbitration using the section 1 exemption. But they still face legal difficulties because of the narrow construction of the exemption employed by courts. This Note argues that the current interpretation of the exemption, which focuses on the physical movement of goods across state lines, is incongruent with the text and history of the FAA and that courts should broaden the exemption to include rideshare drivers.

scholarly journals New Directions in Space Art

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Priest
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Form Factors ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Regulatory Environment ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Space Industry ◽  
New Directions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Practical Limit ◽  
Space Art

<p>New developments in the space industry, falling costs and a diversity of launch platforms are altering the conditions of access to space. The thesis examines to what extent cultural practice is enabled by these new relations. A brief historical overview details the cultural use of space and highlights the history of art satellites. This provides context for a detailed discussion of a satellite artwork by the author, "The Weight of Information". Auto-ethnographic and design-ethnographic techniques are used to explore the artwork through four situations. The setting of interfaces, form factors, boundaries and miniaturisation are found to be enabling mechanisms for cultural practice in space, while the developing space debris regulatory environment is found to provide a practical limit to further miniaturisation of space craft. The tension between the personal and infrastructural is examined through different concepts of entanglement. Strategies of tragedy, participation and correspondence that address issues of accessibility and contingency specific to cultural practice in the orbital environment are explored. Recommendations are made for practitioners wishing to work with art satellites. It is concluded that new developments in the space industry are enabling of future cultural practice in space. </p>

scholarly journals The Status of Uber Drivers: A Purposive Approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Davidov
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Independent Contractor ◽  
Independent Contractors ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
The Status ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
The Subject

Abstract: The status of Uber drivers – the question of whether they are independent contractors (as argued by Uber) or employees – has been the subject of a heated debate recently. The goal of this paper is to address this question at the normative level: what should the law be in this regard? It begins, in part II, by briefly discussing some preliminary issues about how to address the problem: does it make sense to retain the employee/independent contractor distinction at all? Is it justified to maintain an “all or nothing” dichotomy? Should we leave the determination of “who is an employee” to courts? And finally, how should we interpret the term “employee” that appears in legislation? As will become clear, my approach is purposive, and Part III outlines – based on my previous writings – what this means in the context of identifying an employment relationship that justifies the application of labour laws. I will briefly consider several goals of labour law, and suggest that the most useful level of abstraction for current purposes is to focus on the unique vulnerabilities of employment, which I identify as democratic deficits (subordination, broadly conceived) and dependency (economic as well as for social/psychological needs). Finally, part IV applies these general principles to the specific context of Uber drivers, concluding eventually that Uber drivers should be considered employees.Keywords: employee, independent contractor, Uber, gig economy, on demand.

scholarly journals Collaborative Interorganizational Relationships in a Project-Based Industry

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 502
Author(s):  
Ahmed Khouja ◽  
Nadia Lehoux ◽  
Yan Cimon ◽  
Caroline Cloutier
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Interorganizational Relationships ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Network Resource ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
Paradoxical Situation ◽  
History Of

The project-based construction industry finds itself in a paradoxical situation: while it weighs heavily in the world economy, it does have a history of low productivity. One important issue that plagues the industry is related to the challenges that stem from collaborative efforts (or lack thereof) between actors. The objective of this paper is to explore how actors of the construction industry organize their inter-firm relationships while examining the characteristics of such interactions and the elements affecting them (drivers, barriers, facilitators, outcomes). These interactions and elements were uncovered using a systematic literature review. A qualitative content analysis was carried out to categorize these elements and to generate dimensions describing the forms. The 139 articles retrieved depicted 12 relational forms established between construction companies (in descending order of citation): partnering, alliancing, project delivery methods, supply chain integration, joint ventures, integrated project delivery, joint risk management, collaborative design, contingent collaboration, quasi-fixed network, resource sharing, and collaborative planning. A multitude of drivers, barriers, facilitators, and outcomes were found. An analysis of the results led to the conceptualization of a multidimensional profile, which allows for a practical and flexible identification of the relationship form potential partners in the construction sector intend to establish. To provide guidelines for the implementation of this profile, a three-step framework was developed.

scholarly journals Socio-Technical Practices

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Smith ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Building Industry ◽  
The Future ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
History Of ◽  
Integrated Practice ◽  
Contemporary Practice ◽  
Current Practices

Evaluating the socio-technical dialectic reveals much about our values as a society, as a construction industry and as individual disciplines. This paper will share an interpretive cultural history of building in order to establish a context for the emergence of integrated practice technologies such as BIM, IPD and LEED. This will provide the foundation for determining whether these technologies are serving us well in contemporary practice given our most pressing challenges and opportunities. In short the purpose of this paper is to explain the context of building as a means for making our current practices more performative, that is less abstract and autonomous, and instead more connected, meaningful and valuable to the future of both society and the building industry.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document