Should we trust on-demand workers?

In the growing on-demand industry, millions of workers are opting for this alternative that offers them the ability to work according to their needs, schedule and desired job category. On-demand work platforms offer workers (often called independent contractors) a pool of clients or work centers based on their reputation and, to clients, a pool of workers mobilized to perform tasks in your home, your class or your business depending on the platform chosen. In this context, many readers have raised concerns about whether these on-demand workers can be trusted. 

Trends in the share of gig workers among all workers, by sex, 2005 to 2016

Source: Statistics Canada, authors' calculations based on data from the Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database

From the perspective of a client (individual) hiring an on-demand worker through a mobile app

Individuals often think that they are the most vulnerable in this type of situation, but this is not the case as on-demand work mobile apps know how to prevent and protect customers from malicious workers. Here are the most common questions that will cross your mind when you consider having a worker perform work in your home/apartment via a digital platform:

What are the eligibility criteria to work in Canada?

To work in Canada, applicants must have government identification (a valid health card, Canadian passport or driver's license) or hold a birth certificate from a Canadian province. Individuals with immigration status require a work permit or work visa. These regulations also apply to users of on-demand work platforms who choose the "worker" mode when registering on such a platform.

Could the worker aggravate an existing problem or cause damage to my home?

No, because the work made available by most of the on-demand work applications does not require technical training, the tasks to be performed are usually seasonal, craft or domestic such as cleaning a car, windows, plastering the walls of a room, painting a room, cutting the grass, raking leaves on your property, making your website, designing your company logo. In addition, on-demand workers are usually considered independent contractors, so they must already own all the materials needed to complete a task. In the event that this is not possible, the cost of the materials will be billed to the client and may even be pre-purchased by the worker so that you save on travel. In more specialized work-for-hire platforms, some platform managers look for candidates with expertise in a particular field to perform temporary contracts with established companies. These contracts range from auto mechanics to the broad field of administration, from refrigeration specialists to seasoned electricians. In short, on-demand work encompasses many areas of work and this type of work (freelance) is becoming increasingly popular, especially in a context of labour shortage.

Are the platforms responsible for damage caused by a worker?

Measures are put in place, such as a guarantee of satisfaction of a job well done to the users of the platform. Some platforms will even opt for monetary compensation for customers who have suffered damage to their homes, others will take advantage of liability insurance. In all cases and for all platforms, the client and the worker will have to sign the terms and conditions of the application used and these will include the measures put in place by the company to protect itself and to avoid this type of dispute.

Will the worker be competent?

In many on-demand work platforms, a system of worker ratings and customer feedback is put in place to be able to measure the performance of the on-demand workers and their reputation within the company. This way you will have an overview of the workers' portfolio and the customers' satisfaction rate, so you can rely on it to get your work done at home or, if necessary, in your company.

Will the worker be motivated?

Although you can't measure worker motivation, today's platforms offer many incentives to keep workers active on their platform. These incentives include competitive salaries for each job category, promotions depending on the location of the job, travel bonuses, and the worker's choice of which job category he or she wants and is best at.

Will the worker be courteous and respectful?

Respect and courtesy are part of the guidelines of most platforms that assign clients to workers. Some even go so far as to analyze the negative comments given to workers by clients and may permanently revoke the worker's file. To avoid this, the worker must accept the guidelines of the on-demand application he or she chooses, as soon as he or she registers on the platform.

Will the worker complete the work within the client's deadline?

As soon as a connection is made between the worker and the client, the two individuals are connected in a chat box and the client will have to agree on the terms and conditions regarding the deadlines to be respected. For some applications, a minimum of two hours of work is required for the worker-client match to take place.

From the perspective of a client (business) hiring an on-demand worker through a mobile application

Individuals are not the only ones who use on-demand workers, many companies that need to fill temporary positions or fixed-term contracts deal either with staffing agencies or specialized on-demand work platforms. One can think of the healthcare field, where 16.6% of men and 10.3% were on-demand workers in Canada in 2016. This is the second most common field for on-demand workers among all workers, behind the arts, culture, sport and recreation category, which has a resounding 50.8% of on-demand workers, all genders combined. The companies that hire these freelancers may have the same questions as you, but the main distinction is the technical knowledge it takes to do this kind of work. Documentation, training, and certifications are often required to be a freelancer in the healthcare field, for example.

Source: Jeon, Sung-Hee, Huju Liu and Yuri Ostrovsky. 2019. Measuring the Gig Economy in Canada Using Administrative Data. Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series, No. 437. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11F0019M.

Proportion of the working age population participating in on-demand work in Canada

Source: Developed from Manyika et al. 2016

One question that arises from these data is how the experiences of these workers relate to aspects of the family home. What role do job satisfaction and choice play when on-demand workers are under pressure to provide supplemental income? What we can say about this is that they are in the minority among all on-demand workers and are more prone to be concerned about their work, as they have everything to lose by having a bad reputation on their mobile platform. Future users of mobile platforms of this type can therefore take heart in the fact that the majority, or 70% of on-demand workers in Canada do so by choice. Moreover, it goes without saying that both workers and clients are protected by on-demand platforms. On the one hand, workers will be favored by the algorithm and will be more visible than the others by the customers according to their reputation and on the other hand, the customers will always be put forward and protected from undesirable workers by a rigorous selection process that the workers willing to do business with this type of application will have to go through.