Canadian Lawyer

50 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m O nce upon a time — in our own land, not far away — a person went to work for a company or set up their own practice, and they stayed for 30, 40, even 50 years. During their years of employment, they were provided with vacation pay, sick leave, health-care benefits and, typically, a pension plan, for when they finally shuffled off the 9-to-5 coil, perhaps with a gold watch. But that was another era. In recent decades, workers — including baby boomers — have become increasingly mobile. Permanent jobs still exist, but "contracts" or temporary jobs are increasingly common. And a worker's clas- sification is no longer simply employee or contractor but rather employee, dependent contractor and independent contractor — with some workers showing up to the same job in the same workplace for years as "freelancers." To some extent, this change has been driven by generational differences. "The new generation in the workplace sees [contract work] as freedom, flex- ibility, and with technology, too, the idea of going to one employer for 30 years is long gone," says Lisa Stam of SpringLaw in Toronto, a Canadian virtual law firm advising on workplace legal issues for employers and executives. "The gig economy . . . is also being driven by individuals who like that freedom," she adds. "It's a generational change. Millennials are very open to it. We'll see if that continues to be the case as [Millennials] take on mort- gages" and other financial responsibilities of mature adulthood. "Maybe that will change. But there's a confidence in the new generation that they can take care of their affairs [and] more of an openness to being in charge of their own destiny." With this shift, employment legislation and the law have had to likewise shift gears. "It's art," says Richard Charney, global head of employment and labour for Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, based in Toronto. "Judges are evolving this jurisprudence" of who consti- tutes an employee, dependent contractor or independent contractor and how each should be treated under the law. Charney sees "more and more activity and a desire of the courts and possibly legislatures to protect vulnerable workers who have the trap- pings of a contractor but are very dependent" on an employer. "There's been the odd judicial comment on the latter point: Just because you're As freelance employment grows, the legal distinction between a contractor and employee has evolved By Elizabeth Raymer CONTRACTING IN THE GIG ECONOMY L A B O U R & E M P L O Y M E N T L E G A L R E P O R T TARA HARDY

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