Who’s Who In Law 33
Ponte Vedra Recorder · November 12, 2015
The Uberization of America?
(NewsUSA) - “The New Serfs.”
Doesn’t sound as warm and fuzzy
as that other sobriquet -- “the sharing
economy” -- used to describe the Uberization of America, does it? But that’s
what critics say workers are increasingly
becoming thanks to a business model
that’s totally redefining what it means to
be employed in a tech-enabled, servicedriven, 21st-century economy.
Think about it: If you drive for an
app-based, ride-hailing service like
Uber, Lyft or Sidecar -- or maybe do
stuff like fix leaky faucets, say, by signing on with TaskRabbit to connect with
buyers with long to-do lists -; odds are
that app-enabled “gig,” as it’s called,
doesn’t include all or some of the following:
* Health benefits
* Workman’s comp
* Social Security
* Overtime
* The right to unionize
“The ‘sharing economy’ is mostly
spin,” software developer Jon Evans
wrote in a column for TechCrunch. “It
mostly consists of people who have
excess disposable income hiring those
who do not.”
Uber was handed a huge defeat last
September when U.S. District Judge
Edward Chen in San Francisco granted
class-action status to a lawsuit by drivers that, according to the Wall Street
Journal, “could have sweeping implications” for anyone following the same
business model. The core issue is: Are
those behind the wheel “independent
contractors” (as Uber claims) or “employees” entitled to a wide range of
costly benefits (as drivers claim)?
“It will allow thousands of Uber
drivers to participate in this case (and)
challenge their misclassifications as independent contractors, as well as to
attempt to recover the tips that Uber
advertised to customers are included
in the fare, but are not in fact distributed to the drivers,” attorney Shannon
Liss-Riordan, who’s also representing
Lyft drivers in a separate case, told the
press while vowing to try to expand
the suit nationwide.
Not boding well for Uber, which is
planning to appeal the ruling: The California Labor Commission a few months
earlier ruled that Uber driver Barbara
Ann Berwick was, indeed, an employee in a claim involving expenses.
“We’ve always said that all providers
of ground transportation should be held
to the same standard,” said Gary Buffo,
president of the non-profit National
Limousine Association (Limo.org). “That
applies to drivers’ benefits, too.”
And for those who think they’re immune to Uberization, don’t be so sure.
A Bloomberg columnist recounted
the increased “buzz” around the idea of
turning white-collar work, which traditionally commands higher paychecks,
into less expensive services that can be
summoned as easily as a town car.
5 ways to increase your productivity
Recover
(BPT) - Take a look at your todo list and ask yourself how many
things on the list can be finished
when you get around to them.
Now how many things on that list
need to be done as soon as possible
or should have been finished yesterday? Chances are the second list is
longer.
These days you’re constantly being asked to do more with less less money, fewer resources, and of
course, less time.
Whether your goal is to succeed
in your schedule or merely survive,
you can’t do either unless you can
increase your efficiency and your
productivity.
To help you in either regard, here
are five ways you can become more
efficient and productive. By following these tips, you’ll be able to look
at your list in a whole new light and
transform those past due items into
done.
* Start with the most important
task first. Look at your to-do list
every morning and ask yourself,
“What’s the most important item on
my list?” Once you have that answer,
start with that task. Your most important task is often the hardest - that’s
just how life works - and finishing
it will lift your spirits and make you
more productive.
Travelers ConciergeCLAIM Nurse program
places nurses in select urgent care clinics operated by U.S. HealthWorks or Concentra in
more than 50 locations across the country.
After the employee has met with the clinic’s
doctor, the Travelers nurse reviews the treatment plan and develops a comprehensive
return-to-work focused recovery plan. This
process includes:
* Clearly setting expectations about the
claims process in order to reduce uncertainty,
anxiety or fear;
* Assisting the employee with information
he or she may need about the medical treatment plan developed by the clinic’s physician; and
* Using the nurse’s medical knowledge to
help facilitate the care suggested by medical
providers. This help can also lead to faster
and more accurate claims and claims-payment decisions.
Over a three-year period, workers’ compensation cases using this approach reduced
the number of days injured employees were
out of work by 41 percent. The number of
days it took them to recover from their injury
and close their claim f