New Legal Category of Independent Worker with Access to Benefits Proposed

On-demand workers using smartphone apps to source jobs could have access to workers' compensation benefits under a plan advocating a new legal category of workers proposed by two academics. The proposal comes at a time of increased discussion in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere about the future of work, as companies such as Uber increase their presence in the country. A symposium with that title -- The Future of Work -- was hosted by U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez on Thursday in the capitol, one day after professors Alan Kreuger and Seth Harris la...