The problem, as the article points out, is that many of these companies may be misclassifying their workers. Uber has been sued over this[1], and most recently,

The problem, as the article points out, is that many of these companies may be misclassifying their workers. Uber has been sued over this[1], and most recently, Handy was sued for a variety of labor violations, including misclassification[2]. Ironically, I pointed out that a description of Handy's operations published in an article raised questions about classification a few weeks before the lawsuit was filed[3]. There's nothing wrong with self-employment (it's great), but most of these startups in no way, shape or form represent the true "1099 economy." It's a total misnomer. [1] http://uberlawsuit.com/ http://uberlawsuit.com/ [2] http://www.businessinsider.com/handy-cleaning-lawsuit-2014-11 http://www.businessinsider.com/handy-cleaning-lawsuit-2014-1... [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8489834 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8489834