City settles with 3rd staffing platform over misclassification
City settles with 3rd staffing platform over misclassification

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A settlement with a third temporary staffing platform over misclassification was announced Jan. 17 by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu.
The firm, GigSmart, will pay $703,000 in restitution to its California workers and reclassify them as employees instead of independent contractors, according to the announcement. GigSmart will also pay San Francisco $100,000 in civil penalties.
“We appreciate GigSmart’s willingness to come to the table early to find a solution that reclassifies these workers and provides them fair restitution,” Chiu said in a press release.
“Worker misclassification causes great harm to our communities and is unfair to businesses that play by the rules,” Chiu continued. “GigSmart ultimately made the right choice here, and we hope others follow suit.”
GigSmart has operated in California and San Francisco since at least September 2019, according to the city attorney’s office. It fills roles such as general laborers, package handlers and event staff.
In a statement to SIA, GigSmart said it’s dedicated to providing customer support to the approximately 1.5 million workers who have signed up on its platform and the thousands of businesses that use it.
“GigSmart has worked tirelessly to create a platform that is compliant with 1099 regulations and has made significant investments in functionality to this end,” according to the company’s statement. “This includes functionality such as workers’ ability to bid at their desired rate on Shifts and allowing anyone to sign up and find work in their area within a matter of minutes.”
The company also said it is continuing to work with regulatory agencies to provide work opportunities in a timely manner.
“Unfortunately, the guidelines regarding 1099 status are not clearly defined and can vary dramatically state by state,” the company said. “GigSmart hoped that California would take the approach of enforcing 1099 compliance on those acting as employers in all but name, but it appears the intent is that 1099 platforms will not be acceptable in California with the exception of Uber and Lyft who exert far more control over workers.”
Other Platforms
Two other staffing platforms, Qwick and WorkWhile, settled with San Francisco over misclassification of workers as independent contractors, according to the department.
Separately, a Los Angeles-based hospitality staffing firm called The Party Staff filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court against three other staffing platforms and two buyers claiming misclassification of temporary workers represents unfair competition. The firms being sued are Qwick, Instawork and Tend Exchange.