If you’ve never heard of the gig-economy, mad respect — because a new report says 56.7m Americans worked as freelancers in the last year.
Holy side-hustle! That’s more than 1 out of 3 in the entire labor force. And, those numbers continue to grow, which means, now more than ever, gig-employers are being held to the fire.
Today is ‘give your Lyft driver a hug day’… wait, no, don’t
While most full-time employees enjoy a slew of protections to ensure they get paid, aren’t discriminated against, and get some wisp of a severance upon getting canned, most freelancers don’t.
The study found that about 70% of ‘lancers have struggled to collect payment for work they’d completed — a large reason the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act” was passed by the New York City Council last year.
Under the act, businesses hiring freelancers are required to pay up no later than 30 days after service… or else.
As freelancing becomes the future, the legal gap is starting to close
With the help of budding organizations like the Freelancers Union (who led the charge on the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act”), and legal tech startups that found a market in providing affordable contract services for freelancers, the disparity between staffers and giggers is starting to close.
And it couldn’t come at a more pertinent time. The study also found, that at the rate it’s growing, we can expect the majority of the US workforce to freelance within the decade.