An information-sharing agreement aimed at alleged practices that harm workers in the “gig economy” was announced Tuesday by the federal labor relations and consumer financial protection agencies.
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the “formal partnership” of the information-sharing pact specifically addresses employer surveillance and employer-driven debt. “The agreement will help to identify and end financial practices that harm workers and to enhance the enforcement of federal consumer financial protection and labor laws and regulations,” the agencies said in a joint statement.
The agencies also asserted that the agreement is a “step toward ensuring that workers are more fully protected from bad actors, debt traps, and illegal labor practices through promoting transparency and information sharing between the CFPB and NLRB.”
More specifically, the agencies said their deal supports a collaboration on related efforts and “recognizes the overlap of potentially harmful conduct that may pose risks to consumers and workers under federal consumer financial protection law and the National Labor Relations Act.”
“In particular, the CFPB has been focused on restoring competition to consumer financial markets to benefit families and honest businesses alike. Consumers and honest businesses can be harmed when anti-competitive financial practices are used to trap workers into jobs or harvest personal data from workers to benefit certain firms,” the agencies said.