Unequal Rights: Contract Workers Have Few Workplace Protections
Across a diverse set of industries, contract work is booming, and that is raising concerns about a lack of anti-discrimination, harassment and other legal protections for those workers.
Contract workers and freelancers have few legal rights, compared to those hired as employees. Under federal law, a contract worker lacks the right to sue for sexual harassment or gender discrimination, for example, because workplace civil rights laws do not apply.
The independent workforce already numbers in the tens of millions of workers, and as it continues to expand, it raises questions about what to do about the gaps in the law that leave those workers potentially vulnerable.
For Nina Irizarry, this lack of legal rights
