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Thesis Health and Safety in the Gig Economy

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Thesis Health and Safety in the Gig Economy THESIS HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE GIG ECONOMY: A QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION WITH TASKRABBIT WORKERS Submitted by Kiplin Kaldahl Department of Psychology In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Science Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Fall 2020 Master’s Committee: Advisor: Gwenith G. Fisher Tori L. Crain Jennifer Harman John Rosecrance Copyright by Kiplin Kaldahl 2020 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE GIG ECONOMY: A QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION WITH TASKRABBIT WORKERS Work in the United States is increasingly moving towards contingent positions in the online gig economy, raising concerns about worker health, safety, and well-being in the absence of regulatory frameworks found in traditional employment. The present study examines the health and safety experiences of workers who provide their labor through an online platform called TaskRabbit, which is characterized by gig economy workers who offer freelance labor services to clients, such as cleaning and moving services. Little research has been done with this population; most studies on gig economy workers thus far have focused on on-demand driving companies such as Uber and Lyft. Health risks may arise from little workplace support for physical and mental health. Safety hazards may arise from a lack of training, unregulated physical environments in which tasks take place, and risk of injury due to physical labor. Negative outcomes due to stress may arise from low job control due to algorithmic management (i.e., computerized algorithms that make management decisions based on statistics such as customer approval ratings), and from interpersonal stressors such as incivility (i.e., rude comments, inconsiderate behavior) and unfair treatment. I investigated these potential risks through the use of one-hour, semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted via online video. The interview data was analyzed for recurring themes and sub-themes related to the study topics. The findings provide information on the unique health and safety experiences of the TaskRabbit workforce, which is essential to the development of future quantitative studies and interventions. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research is supported by the Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center, Grant T42OH009229, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kiplin Kaldahl’s tuition and work on this manuscript was also supported by the Grant T42OH009229. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii Health and Safety in the Gig Economy: A Qualitative Investigation with TaskRabbit workers ... 1 Present Study .................................................................................................................................. 5 Study Contributions .................................................................................................................... 6 TaskRabbit Workers: An Underrepresented Population in OSH Research ................................ 9 Total Worker HealthTM.............................................................................................................. 11 TaskRabbit Worker Health........................................................................................................ 13 TaskRabbit Worker Safety ........................................................................................................ 16 TaskRabbit Worker Stressors .................................................................................................... 20 Interpersonal Stressors ........................................................................................................... 21 Algorithmic Management Stressors. ..................................................................................... 22 Methods......................................................................................................................................... 25 Participants ................................................................................................................................ 25 Procedure ................................................................................................................................... 27 Data Transcription and Cleaning............................................................................................... 28 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 30 Health ........................................................................................................................................ 30 Safety ......................................................................................................................................... 32 Stress ......................................................................................................................................... 37 Quality of Life ........................................................................................................................... 42 Contextual Factors: Task Boundaries and Identities ................................................................. 44 Results Related to COVID-19 ................................................................................................... 49 Conceptual Model ..................................................................................................................... 50 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 51 Theoretical implications ............................................................................................................ 51 Practical Implications ................................................................................................................ 55 Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 60 Future Directions ....................................................................................................................... 62 References ..................................................................................................................................... 66 Appendix 1: Final Interview Protocol........................................................................................... 83 iv Appendix 2: TWHTM Issues Relevant to the Present Study ......................................................... 87 Appendix 3: MTurk Survey Protocol ........................................................................................... 89 Appendix 4: Final Budget for Grant Funding ............................................................................... 94 Appendix 5: Recruiting Taskers for Research .............................................................................. 95 Appendix 6: Additional Methods Information ............................................................................. 98 Appendix 7: Final Codebook ...................................................................................................... 104 Appendix 8: Additional Results .................................................................................................. 117 Appendix 9: Conceptual Model of the Task Environment ......................................................... 121 v Health and Safety in the Gig Economy: A Qualitative Investigation with TaskRabbit workers In recent years, workers in the United States have increasingly moved towards accepting non-standard work arrangements, such as jobs found within the gig economy. Thus, “gig” workers are taking on positions with fewer labor standards than what is seen in traditional employment (Bernhardt, 2014; Friedman, 2014).The gig economy, a term first coined by a journalist named Tina Brown, is defined as a field of work characterized by labor or “gigs” provided through online platforms, with independent contractors typically completing the work(Brown, 2017). Brown describes these gigs as standalone projects or consultancies that accumulate to form an individual’s income. The online platforms that host gig workers do not offer the same commitment or benefits as is found in a traditional employment relationship; rather, the platforms serve to merely connect the gig worker with the clients who have work to be done (Donovan, Bradley, and Shimabukuru, 2016; Friedman, 2014). This kind of work has been identified as contingent, meaning that no explicit or implicit contract is involved regarding long- term employment (Bernhardt, 2014). Gig economy work has also been defined as precarious, which means that workers in the gig economy are not protected by the regulations or support found in traditional employment (Benach & Muntaner, 2007).Additionally, gig workers do pay into social security via their income taxes, and because they are independent contractors, they pay twice as much as traditional employees (Mulcahy, 2018). These conditions are noteworthy
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