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Insurance Benefits And The Gig Economy In Europe – Discover the effects of the latest technology with Lens, see details and create powerful strategies. Act now to gain access to exclusive articles and reports.
London-based insurance company Collective Benefits has raised £6m in a new round of funding. The startup plans to expand across Europe, double the size of its team, and add new products and services to its lineup. To date, the company has raised £9.3 million.
Insurance Benefits And The Gig Economy In Europe
Founded in late 2019, Collective Benefits acts as a safety net for independent/gig economy/platform workers, offering insurance and benefits including sickness and injury benefits, family and compassionate leave. With the new funding, collective benefits will add liability insurance and pensions to the list.
Pdf) Well Being And Mental Health In The Gig Economy
The startup, which provides coverage and benefits to more than 200,000 independent workers in more than 20 countries, surveyed more than 10,000 drivers, riders and messengers and found valuable data. They found that almost a third have no savings and only 58% have spent £1,500 (compared to the national average of £6,767), which is an alarming figure given that only 4% of independents make it up. Employees report that they have sickness and/or injury insurance.
Collective Benefits solves this problem and works with gig economy platforms like TaskRabbit, Stuart and Wolt.
Collective Benefits’ recent funding round was led by NFX, followed by all previous investors including Stride VC, Delin Ventures, Insur Gateway and executives from Uber, Deliveroo and Urban. As part of the deal, NFX General Partner Pete Flint OBE will join the board.
“The team is a market leader solving a hitherto unsolved problem – the missing safety net for independent workers – a win-win outcome for the platform companies they work with,” said Flint. From Uber and Lyft to TaskRabbit and Fiverr, the gig economy is firmly established as part of today’s workplace. Gallup polls show that about 36 percent of US workers have some form of meat, and 29 percent rely on “alternative jobs” (as they are sometimes called) as their primary source of income. With such a strong presence in the labor market, the gig economy is changing the shape of employment. Gallup’s figures are lower than some respected economists initially reported (and lower than statistics from some less established sources), but they still indicate that the gig economy is here to stay. Certain aspects of employment are not affected by it and employee benefits are not immune from its effects. In fact, several issues have been raised regarding employee benefits in the gig economy. Moving forward, government agencies and businesses must rethink their employee benefits programs to adequately compensate independent contractors, online platform workers, contract workers, on-call workers, temporary workers, and others with alternative work arrangements. This is something to do for the near and far future. The Long-Term Solution: Portable Benefits As defined by the Aspen Institute, portable benefits meet three criteria: The benefits are owned by the employees themselves, so they are not tied to the company or specific job. Employers make contributions to benefits at a fixed rate and based on the amount of work performed by the employee for the employer. Benefits are adjusted to cover self-employed workers or people with alternative work arrangements. The concept of portable discounts itself is not new, as similar structures have been operating for decades in various industries. For example, Stephen Hill notes that construction workers have relied on “multi-employer welfare” for years and that there have been “multi-employer plans” in various industries in the past. Basic benefits for gig workers in many different industries. Of course, no single employer can achieve this, since portable benefits are by definition not company-specific, but various advocacy groups, think tanks, and government agencies are raising awareness. A study of potential solutions and how to implement it, the Brookings Institution criticized the federal government and its lack of action in this regard, but the organization noted that bills to fund pilot portable benefit programs at the state level have been introduced in the Senate and House. At least government leaders are aware of the situation and some are starting to discuss it. At the state level, governments in California, New Jersey, New York, Washington and others have begun discussing how to introduce portable employee benefits to gig workers. So far, some of the proposals show the range of possible ideas: A bill in Washington would require employers who hire 1099 workers to make contributions to nonprofit organizations. The state of Oregon has launched an automatic IRA plan enrollment program that can be extended to contract employees. Many local and state governments have established ways for independent contractors to decide on paid family leave and/or paid sick leave policies. Lack of potential ideas. Some of them will be expensive to implement, but others will lose business value. Depending on the specific alternative work arrangements of a gig worker business, a business may try to: Make sure all workers are paid on time and advance on large projects to solve workers’ cash flow problems (which are common). Giving employees bonuses for meeting goals can motivate gig workers in the same way that it motivates traditional employees. Offering discounts on company products and services for the duration of employee contracts is an easy way to show appreciation. Regularly including gig workers in formal company events helps remote workers feel more connected to the organization and its team members. Increasing compensation to account for self-employment taxes, health insurance premiums, and unpaid vacation time can help workers offset these costs as long as they have portable benefits. Offering fair upfront compensation, along with some form of success-based royalties or dividends, can increase employee investment in the company. Partnerships with insurance and benefits providers can increase access to employee benefits for gig workers. Many large and small companies are experimenting with these and other solutions. Here are some of the things popular companies do: Fiverr has partnered with third parties to help workers find affordable and discounted health insurance and tax help. The platform has also partnered with the company to provide free time management, contracting and invoicing assistance. SurveyMonkey has announced that it will offer benefits to select contract employees at its headquarters that provide services similar to employee benefits packages. These benefits include employer-sponsored health insurance. Uber (which has faced legal challenges over its working conditions) offers its top drivers college tuition, as well as other perks such as access to affordable health insurance, discounts on vehicle maintenance and discounts on phone plans. Etsy offers affordable health insurance to its sellers. When in doubt, all businesses should ask their non-traditional employees what they can do to help them. Most workers are more than happy to share their biggest challenges and how the businesses that hire them can help solve those challenges. Review employee benefits. If your company is currently considering ways to offer better employee benefits to gig workers, it’s a natural time to reconsider traditional employee benefits packages. Contact one of our team members to discuss your benefits with a qualified representative. They will be happy to help you research your current employee benefits offer and possible alternatives. What decisions have you made to ensure your gig workers are properly compensated? Leave us a comment or contact us. We want to hear from you!
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