So-called gig workers are everywhere in the economy — Uber drivers, food delivery people, and others.

In today’s workforce, they’re basically considered an independent contractor under the law. There aren’t many rules that govern gig work — on the federal level there’s virtually nothing, and in most states, there isn’t much either.

In California, Uber spent hundreds of millions of dollars in 2020 to get Proposition 22 passed, a ballot measure that promised more pay and benefits for gig workers in exchange for remaining contractors. A similar measure was slated to be on the ballot in Massachusetts before the state supreme court ruled against it in June.

As part of our Economic Pulse series, “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio spoke with Terri Gerstein, director of the State and Local Enforcement Project at the Harvard Law School Labor and Worklife Program, about the state of gig work regulation in the U.S. and where it goes from here.

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