Rethinking the relationship between companies and workers: "Employers are not required, and sometimes unable," the report reads, "to provide certain protections and benefits to... contingent workers."
The Association's Workplace 2020 report similarly notes that the existing legal infrastructure inhibits companies from providing certain benefits to contingent workers by imposing liability as an employer under most employment laws if those benefits are provided.
"The worker safety net and benefits must follow the worker, not the employer," the report further claims. "Reducing the dependence of workers on employers for healthcare, retirement, unemployment insurance, paid time off and other benefits could help workers regain some economic security and give them more flexibility and confidence to change careers more easily, relocate for work, or become entrepreneurs."
Other proposals include job training, education reforms, and "policies that increase workers' economic security, protect workers' rights, and provide workers with the opportunity to pursue their dreams."
Why it matters: Awareness for the need to modernize the U.S. workplace policy regime is growing, expanding beyond think tank proposals with legislators becoming more aware of the challenges developing for workers and employers.
