Gig nursing options are growing as hospitals turn to outside companies to fill staffing gaps. But the practice carries legal and regulatory risks for both sides.
The gig model that relies on independent contractors is more complicated in the highly regulated health-care industry than for rideshare and food delivery. The trend could leave facilities and the companies serving them vulnerable to misclassification accusations, joint-employer disputes, and complicated wage and hour laws, attorneys and others in the industry say.
Health-care facilities face complex licensing and certification requirements. As pandemic-era flexibilities that allowed travel nurses to easily move from state to state expire, staffing companies will have an even harder time navigating the regulations, attorneys say.
“Given the already serious issues with many of these health-care workers feeling overwhelmed and underpaid, they’re going to turn these questions not just to the individual hospitals, but potentially also to the companies that are hosting these platforms,” said Sonya Rosenberg, a labor and employment partner at Neal Gerber Eisenberg.
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