EPIC Joins Coalition Endorsing Empowering App-Based Workers Act  

In a letter sent to Congress this week, EPIC joined a coalition endorsing the Empowering App-Based Workers Act, a bill introduced by senators Schatz, Murphy, and Baldwin to create transparency and fairness for workers and accountability for tech companies. The letter urges members of Congress to co-sponsor the bill. The coalition is led by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and includes 34 unions, worker and economic justice organizations, and privacy advocates.  

Tech companies increasingly use digital labor platforms to decide who gets to work, when they work, and how much they get paid—all without paying fair wages, providing benefits, or maintaining any accountability. The Empowering App-Based Workers Act would promote stability and dignity for app-based workers, pulling back the curtain on how companies use their algorithms. Among other things, the bill would give workers the right to know how companies made decisions about their pay, work, or discipline; allow workers to choose trusted organizations to help them understand such information about work-related decisions; and require equal pay for equal work. Read more about the bill here.  

EPIC has supported similar access to automated decisionmaking systems by workers and consumers to ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness.