Employer misclassification of workers as independent contractors is a long-standing, pervasive problem affecting millions of workers and costing governments billions of dollars each year around the globe.
Misclassified workers are deprived the rights and protections needed to ensure they have rights on the job and get paid for the work they do.
In the United States, employer misclassification can end up sidestepping federal and state labor and employment laws, including wage and hour protections, anti-discrimination protections, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, and the right to organize.
To combat employer misclassification, many states have adopted what is known as the ABC test, a strong and protective legal test for determining employee status. Federal legislation—the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act—would establish the ABC test in federal labor law to better protect workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain.
Many regulators abroad have also taken steps to deal with the problem with varying degrees of success. What can we learn from each other?
Join experts from the European Union and the U.S. Department of Labor for a discussion of how the issues of employee status and misclassification are being approached by different EU countries and in the U.S., and how regulators are treating app-based workers who work for companies such as Uber and Deliveroo.
This event is hosted in coordination with the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation.
Who:
- Maria Jepsen, Deputy Director, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Loughlinstown, Ireland
- Jessica Looman, Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C.
- Stefan Olsson, Director, European Commission, Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Directorate B: Employment
- Moderator: Wilma Liebman, EPI Board member and former Chairman, National Labor Relations Board, Washington, D.C.