It is the government's job to legislate and provide universal healthcare/an adequate safety net. If you expect Uber to provide healthcare to its workers, many o

It is the government's job to legislate and provide universal healthcare/an adequate safety net. If you expect Uber to provide healthcare to its workers, many of whom don't want to be employees because that would reduce the flexibility of their work arrangement, then Uber will "hire" fewer people, raise prices, and increase average time-to-service. How is that a good thing? Winners from classifying gig workers as employees: - Full-time taxi drivers who happen to get a job from Uber - Well-intentioned people who believe that society improves when there is an appearance of fairer labor treatment Losers from classifying gig workers as employees: - Full-time taxi drivers who don't get a job from Uber because labor laws force Uber to shrink - Part-time taxi drivers who cannot work for Uber as full-time employees - Part-time taxi drivers who can increase their hours but don't get a job from Uber because labor laws force the company to shrink - Part-time taxi drivers who increase their hours and get a job but despise the new, inflexible work arrangement - and their kids, if they have kids - Millions of Uber customers who get worse service for a higher price - Prospective Uber customers who cannot afford the new service and make poorer transportation decisions (slower, less safe) - Foregone business and consumer opportunities due to people not being where they want to be when they want to be there - Gig businesses that never get started, gig economy innovation that never happens, and society at large If the government provides a better safety net, then people will benefit from it no matter the job and no matter the particularities of their work arrangement (self-employed, part-time, full-time, single employer, multiple employers, unemployed...). I chose to study the California Dynamex gig worker case for a business law class and there's really no way around the terrible tradeoffs.