Throughout history, courts have played a key role in interpreting and enforcing the rules that govern work, balancing the rights and interests of workers and those of the companies they work for. How courts strike that balance has changed over the years and has influenced the continuing evolution of the relationship between workers and employers.

In this event, we hear from legal and economic scholars and worker advocates about the critical role that courts have in setting the rules for the employer-employee relationship and the impact these decisions can have on individuals and the economy.

The “on-demand” or “1099” economy is reengineering how millions of Americans work, and California’s San Francisco Bay Area is at the forefront of these changes. Four members of the Bay Area team participating in the Communities that Work Partnership (CTWP) set out to understand this challenge and explore how the public workforce development system—the one-stop job centers, community colleges, and publicly funded community-based training programs—could meet the skills/needs of freelancers, and the businesses that hire them, in the region’s 1099 economy.

This event discusses the dynamic of retail during the holidays, which are a critical time for retail companies and workers. The National Retail Federation anticipates that holiday sales this year will make up approximately 19 percent of the retail industry’s annual sales of $3.2 trillion. Holiday spending also impacts the paychecks, schedules, and work-life balance of the 15 million retail workers in the United States, who make up more than 10 percent of total US employment. For these workers, the holidays often amplify year-round job stress they already face, including stress caused by unpredictable and changing work schedules, on-call shifts that may not materialize, and unexpected early dismissals. Unstable schedules — combined with other common workplace conditions like lack of paid leave, low wages, and little investment in workforce training — reduce employee engagement and contribute to high turnover and job instability.

The Future of Work for Low-Income Workers and Families is a policy brief aimed at state policy advocates and policymakers seeking to help low-income workers and their families secure healthy economic livelihoods as the nature of work evolves in the United States. Published by the Working Poor Families Project in December 2015, the brief was written by Vickie Choitz and Maureen Conway. This brief reviews the major forces shaping the future of work, including changes in labor and employment practices, business models, access to income and benefits, worker rights and voice, education and training, and technology. Across these areas, we are seeing disruptive change in our economy and society resulting in increasing risk and challenges for low-income workers, in particular.

Labor unions traditionally have been the voice of workers seeking better pay, benefits, and jobs and have been a critical means for working people to improve their working conditions, incomes, and social standing. Union membership has fallen from a high of 34.8 percent of wage and salary workers in 1954 to 11.1 percent in 2014. A number of states and the courts have taken actions that weaken labor unions. Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin have joined 22 other mostly southern and western states and adopted “right to work” laws that undermine labor union membership.

The future of workers’ voice in shaping their jobs today and tomorrow is at a crossroads. This event discusses the big questions governing that future. Are traditional labor unions able to successfully represent workers today — especially those in fast-growing, low-wage service sector jobs — or have they been too weakened? What are the new models and organizations that have started to emerge over the last two decades? And fundamentally, how can the nation hear from workers themselves and understand their experience of work today if there is no organized voice that brings their perspective to public and private discussions about jobs and work?

Also known as the “gig economy,” “consumer-to-consumer sharing,” and “peer-to-peer marketplaces,” the term “sharing economy” is used to describe a wide variety of exchanges between people, including property, skills, labor, or space.

Sharing economy companies include Airbnb (rent a room or your house), Uber (provide rides), TaskRabbit (do chores for others), and Instacart (be a personal grocery shopper), to name a few. There were an estimated 80 million sharers in the United States in 2013 – although that included 33 million “resharers,” those who buy and/or sell pre-owned goods online at sites like Craigslist (Vision Critical and Crowd Companies).

Revenue estimates vary from $3.5 billion in the U.S. in 2013 (Forbes) to $335 billion globally in 2025 (PricewaterhouseCoopers). Many have touted this system’s benefits for consumers, including convenient and affordable services and shared goods. But what are the benefits — and the downsides — of the sharing economy for the workers who provide the services? What is the influence of the sharing economy on the future of work? What are the implications for public policy and business practice?

Panelists explored these issues and more.

The Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993, guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to covered workers and has been used over 100 million times since its inception. But since this leave is unpaid, many cannot afford to take it.

In addition, only a little more than half of the U.S. workforce is covered by FMLA since establishments with 50 or fewer employees are not covered by the law, and workers need to meet job tenure and hours worked requirements before becoming eligible. This situation is not only bad news for workers and customers, businesses themselves may experience decreased worker productivity and increased worker turnover when employees must put work ahead of health and family. As this issue gains attention, a number of states and localities are implementing or exploring paid sick or family leave laws.

In this conversation, panelists will discuss challenges faced by workers, parents and employers in managing this issue and explore ideas for practices and policies that can better support the workforce, families, and the economy.

In the United States today, roughly 25 million workers, over 16 percent of all workers, are foreign-born. Immigrant workers contribute skills, knowledge and labor to the U.S. economy through employment in a diversity of sectors, including hospitality, construction, information technology, health care and others.

Foreign-born workers also start businesses at higher rates than native born workers, contributing to economic growth and job creation. While some immigrant workers and business owners achieve great economic success, others operate marginal businesses or are employed in jobs where wages are low, working conditions are poor, and safety standards are disregarded. For foreign-born workers that wish to improve their education and upgrade their skills, other barriers may stand in their way, such as limited English skills or poor access to financial aid. Millions of these workers have toiled in the shadows of the labor market, but soon, the nation may have opportunities to both improve job quality and offer ways for these workers to build their skills. These opportunities can help improve employment for the labor market and economy overall in ways that benefit all Americans.

Panelists discussed the immigrant workforce in the U.S. today, focusing on its past and potential economic contributions, opportunities for gaining skills as well as the implications of immigration and immigration reform for job quality. This is the third conversation in the Aspen Institute’s Working in America series that highlights a variety of job quality issues affecting low and moderate income working Americans.

This report details the state of low-wage work in the restaurant industry and provides a profile of Restaurant Opportunities Center-United, an organization striving to empower low-wage restaurant workers, employers, and consumers to collectively improve job quality in the industry.

This report details the dynamics and challenges of the residential construction industry and provides a profile of the Workers Defense Project, a non-profit and membership-based organization based in Austin, Texas that seeks to provide low-wage workers, particularly those in the construction industry, with resources to improve their working and living conditions