Welcome to the Gig Economy: The New Normal? by Elizabeth M. Ebanks The “gig economy,” in which tem-porary positions are common and or-ganizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements, has opened up vast opportunities for workers and consumers, but has also led to a surge in employment issues. For example, the US Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced new guidelines meant to crack down on alleged worker misclassifi cation and to ensure that workers who are jointly employed by two entities are properly paid overtime. Many of the highest profi le on-demand companies, includ-ing Uber, Lyft, Instacart, Postmates, Washio, Caviar, Homejoy, and Handy, are facing class action lawsuits alleging misclassifi cation of their workers as 28 VIRGINIA LAWYER | August 2016 | Vol. 65 | EMPLOYMENT LAW independent contractors rather than employees. Recent rulings in feder-al court generated headlines as two different federal judges ruled that the misclassifi cation claims by drivers for Uber and Lyft could proceed to trial. Nonetheless, in this competitive marketplace, employers frequently turn to both indepen-dent contractors and staffi ng companies to supply temporary and other variations of contingent workers — ranging from clerical staff to production workers to highly-skilled professionals — to fi ll a variety of positions. Such arrangements carry legal risks for em-ployers, but at the forefront are independent contractor misclassifi cation and joint employ-er liability. Independent Contractors: Misclassifi cation Matters Misclassifi cation occurs when a business treats its workers as independent contractors www.vsb.org shutterstock.com