긱경제(gig economy)는 기업이 임시로 사람을 구해서 일을 맡기는 경제방식으로 노동자로서는 어디엔가 고용되어 있다기 보다는 수요가 있을 때마다 일시적으로 일하는 형태이다. 미국의 Lfty나 Uber 등 차량공유서비스를 제공하는 기업들이 대표적인 긱경제 기업들이다. 그런데, 최저임금이나 건강보험 및 퇴직연금 등은 모두 정규직 노동자들을 위한 제도이므로 긱경제의 기간제 노동자들은 소외되어 있는 상태이다.

한편, 2017년 기준 미국의 전체 근로자 중 1/3 이상인 5천7백만명이 이 긱경제에 종사하고 있고, 향후 10년간 이 비중은 50%까지 증가할 것으로 예상된다. 따라서, 이러한 급격한 고용환경 변화로 인하여 미국은 기간제 근로자의 고용 불평등 해소를 위해 포괄적인 보장을 의무화하는 법안들을 검토하고 있고 보험회사들도 핀테크기술 등을 통해 이에 적극 호응하고있다. 2008년 프리랜서 권리단체인 Freelancer union은 조합은 Freelancers Insurance Company라는 보험회사를 설립하여 건강보험, 퇴직보험, 상해보험 등을 제공하고 있으며, Trupo는 아메리카재보험그룹과 업무제휴하였다. 이들 보험회사는 긱경제 근로자가 여러 산업과 여러 기업들을 옮겨다니면서 받은 급여정보를 API(Application Programming Interface)로 통합관리하여 소득보상보험(workers’ compensation insurance) 및 재해보장보험 등의 요율을 계산하고 있다.

출처: https://www.propertycasualty360.com/2019/04/15/how-insurance-technology-supports-gig-economy-workers/?slreturn=20190424180500

How insurance technology supports gig economy workers

Insurers now stay on the cutting edge by leveraging data analytics and reporting technology to deploy new products for the gig economy.

By Nicole Mongillo | 20190415  at 05:30

State and city governments may soon make it mandatory for companies to offer more comprehensive insurance to nontraditional employees. (Photo: Shutterstock)

More than one-third of U.S. workers — roughly 57 million — participate in the gig economy, and that number expected to grow to 50% by 2027 as job markets continue to shift to ad hoc contracts from full-time employees. Internet marketplaces and digital businesses such as Uber, Lyft, Freelancer.com and TaskRabbit thrive on this model and even more traditional employers are increasing their use of independent contractors.

The ‘new normal’

The rapidly developing “new normal” for both employees and employers hinges on finding a happy medium. Independent workers desire some of the traditional security of fulltime-equivalent status, while assuming some of their own risk in exchange for flexibility in schedule and work location. Simultaneously, employers enjoy more HR and payroll bandwidth while ensuring that their workforce is protected by workers’ compensation coverage, for instance.

While that all sounds like (and is) a win-win, it is proving difficult — especially for insurers — to develop a new classification for contract employees that provides more traditional benefits and protection such as workers’ compensation, as current policy structures typically rely on fixed information around employee numbers and locations. For example, while some employers like SurveyMonkey provide full benefits to certain contract workers, independent workers are not covered by workplace, minimum wage or safety protections and rarely receive health care, sick days or retirement contributions.

Enter technology, where advances are increasingly seen as the catalyst that will allow employers and insurers to innovate with new products for workers’ compensation and other workforce coverage needs. A few emerging InsurTech startups are already on the case, and others may be driven to bring more offerings to market by emerging catalysts. For example, state and city governments may soon make it mandatory for companies to offer more comprehensive insurance to nontraditional employees.

Proactive legislation

A growing number of states, including Washington and New York, and major cities such as Seattle, have adopted or are considering employment laws to address perceived inequities against independent employees (Seattle’s law is on hold pending a court outcome). Legislation is also being considered to allow portable benefits to follow contract employees wherever they are engaged.

Additionally, the Freelancers Union, which represents 50 million U.S. freelance workers, has been pooling the benefit needs of these workers and negotiating with providers to create better conditions for buying health, dental and disability insurance. The union seeks to uncouple benefits such as unemployment compensation and health insurance from permanent, full-time employment relationships.

Digitization solutions

Technology breakthroughs are also helping contract workers gain advances on the benefits front, especially for managing benefits and compensation.

• Payment processors such as Stripe now offer instant pay to solve a common complaint among freelancers around slow compensation.
• Trupo, which offers short-term disability insurance, partnered with Reinsurance Group of America in August to introduce a new policy in Georgia. Contract employees pay $20-50 per month to receive up to 50% of their monthly income for 12 weeks if they submit proof from a medical professional that they are too ill to work.

Given the future of work and the growth in the use of independent workers, workplace experts increasingly favor employers enacting innovative and pro-worker benefit policies, including workers’ compensation coverage. They wonder, for instance, if insurers should consider usage-based workers’ compensation to address the needs of a changing workforce and identify which digital systems might help insurers evolve the workplace.

Heavy regulations have complicated the issue of providing workers’ compensation insurance in nontraditional employment relationships, but that’s not stopping the industry from moving forward. CoverWallet, for example, has introduced an application programming interface (API) for commercial lines insurance that offers workers’ compensation insurance among its products. Industries that use these products include many that hire contract workers, including construction, healthcare, agriculture and manufacturing.

Still, a large number of insurers (including those offering workers’ compensation insurance) are still working to create ideal insurance products for their customers who employ contract employees. Often, insurers do not feel particular urgency to undertake major changes to the workers’ compensation system because employers are already able to classify contract workers as employees and purchase a workers’ compensation policy. However, larger gig economy employers such as Lyft and Uber need a more comprehensive solution, and are beginning to develop their own insurance solutions.

The insurance industry has a critical role to play in the exploding on-demand employment culture, and there is a lot to think about regarding the best ways to insure the gig economy. This is one area where technology and digital innovation are needed, possibly in ways we haven’t even imagined yet. What we do know is that understanding the insured audience is critical to designing effective insurance products, and getting those products to market quickly is critical to success.

Insurers looking to stay on the cutting edge can leverage data analytics and reporting technology, as well as core policy systems, to design and quickly employ new products to support emerging needs, like those of the gig economy. As we often see in this era of digital transformation in insurance, the results of these early efforts will inform the best practices and proven processes of the future.