Uber manages a large, disaggregated workforce through its ridehail platform, one that delivers a relatively standardized experience to passengers while simultaneously promoting its drivers as entrepreneurs whose work is characterized by freedom, flexibility, and independence. Through a nine-month empirical study of Uber driver experiences, we found that Uber does leverage significant indirect control over how...

The Unions NSW report provides a case study of Airtasker, looking specifically at the industrial implications for workers. Airtasker is the leading provider of online facilitated task-based work, and is representative of the industrial risks associated with the disintegration of traditional jobs into short term tasks, often referred to as the ‘gig economy’. The Unions...

Workers compensation has a fraught history in most jurisdictions and Victoria is no exception. It is socially responsible to provide for a universal system of insurance covering work related injury to recognise the value of workers and the risks of work, and economically responsible both to support a return to work and to ensure that...

Many workers in the United States are at the mercy of unpredictable scheduling practices, often facilitated by new technologies where computer algorithms create employee schedules based on projected consumer demand. Unpredictable schedules can be found in many occupations but are most common in retail and service industries—the very industries in which workers also face a...

The growth of the "on-demand" services sector has spurred a vigorous debate on the changing nature of the U.S. economy and the implications for American workers. The “on-demand” economy refers to the growing number of businesses that connect service providers to customers through the assistance of information technology -- particularly “apps” accessible on smart phones.