The Classification Battle

The central legal question is whether gig workers are independent contractors or employees. That single label decides access to labor protections, benefits, and collective bargaining rights — so the stakes for millions of workers are enormous.

California's AB5 law tried to reclassify gig workers as employees, but Proposition 22 overturned it after platforms spent more than $200 million on the campaign. Similar fights are playing out worldwide as courts and lawmakers struggle to fit platform work into legal frameworks built for a 20th-century economy.