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What I’ve Been Reading This Week


Regular readers of the blog likely haven taken note of the (major) increase in labor law developments to close out 2022.  With all of those developments, it would be wrong of me to gloss over those highlights and not give them the attention they deserve.  With that being said, I also wanted to look at the other side of the coin this week.  While I read through a few compelling articles on labor law related matters (and noted an article about the unionization effort at Starbucks), I am highlighting a few employment law and HR related topics for readers to page through in the coming days.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Survey: App Based Workers Prefer to Be Classified As Independent Contractors

Back in September, a survey was conducted among 1,251 app based workers to get their input on whether they prefer to be classified as independent contractors or instead classified as employees.  By a somewhat surprising 77%, those app based workers surveyed indicated they strongly support (or somewhat support) being classified as independent contractors.  While it is difficult to read into their reasoning, it could be those app based workers that were polled prefer the flexibility of being classified as independent contractors (as opposed to the more stringent and regimented routine that employees typically have) or it could be these app based workers fear that companies would start slashing their staff if app based workers were classified as employees.  Although this survey is not the definitive gauge on what all app based workers want, it is worth paging through for a bit of insight on the matter.


A Concise Breakdown of Minimum Wage Rates Across the Country

Every so often, I have to stop and take a moment to look up a minimum wage rate in a particular state (as readers will likely know that minimum wage rates vary in each state.)  Clare Mulroy over at USA Today recently published an overview of the current wage rates in all 50 states (and D.C.).  Even though some of these wage rates will change at the start of next year, this breakdown is still worth a quick review and reference for later.


Unionization Efforts at Starbucks Grinds Forward

Starbucks.  Unionization.  Elections.  Contested Ballots.  Strikes.  National Labor Relations Board complaints.  Etc.  Etc.  Readers are well aware of the long, hard fought battle at Starbucks over the past year in regard to workers taking steps to unionize.  Noam Scheiber at The New York Times took a closer look at where things currently stand on this front:  Over 250 stores have voted to unionize nationwide, however election filings have slowed to a mere trickle in recent months.  Both the union that is representing workers at Starbucks and the company itself are slowly circling each other in anticipation of bargaining over an agreement.  The union wants better pay and benefits and a promise from the company to remain neutral in future elections (among other demands).  To achieve those demands, it is suspected (if not expected) that workers will take steps to strike and exert their influence on the company.  Will Starbucks accede to these demands or play hardball?   

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