News Type: Articles

Call it what you will – the gig economy, sharing economy, freelance economy, on-demand economy, platform economy, [fill-in-the-blank] economy – the nuts and bolts of how we go about accessing people and services has changed dramatically in recent years. Want a ride? Grab an Uber. Hungry? DoorDash delivers. Need groceries? Instacart to the rescue. With just a couple of taps on a smart device, our every wish can seemingly be granted.

This genie-in-a-bottle approach to commerce extends beyond everyday consumers and into the corporate sphere as well, especially when it comes to staffing. Worldwide, an ever-growing force of independent workers available for short-term engagements is just a few clicks away. No doubt about it, the phenomenon most commonly referred to as the gig economy is shaking up “business as usual” across industries as technology transforms the manner in which companies – hotels and resorts included – fill vacant positions. And while this can certainly be a boon for hoteliers, the shifting employment paradigm is not without potential pitfalls.

The headlines are seemingly nonstop: “Wage gap is even worse than we had thought,” reads the Chicago Tribune, “Women still earn lower salaries, fewer promotions,” proclaims USA Today, and “America doesn’t just have a gender pay gap. It has a gender wealth gap,” reports the Washington Post.

This drumbeat of news regarding the divide between what men and women in the U.S. earn reflects numbers that are stunning, to say the least. Here we are, more than 56 years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, and females in this country are paid $0.80 for every dollar made by their male counterparts – this according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). For women of color, the data is far worse, with African Americans making $0.63 and Latinas $0.54 compared to each dollar paid to white men.

With a population just shy of 40 million people, California is by far the most populous state in the nation. How big is the Golden State? Consider this: California’s economy-around $2.7 trillion-is the fifth largest in the world, putting it ahead of the United Kingdom, India, France, South Korea and even Russia.

Bottom line: Californians represent a significant percentage of consumers, not just in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and cities and towns in between, but throughout the U.S. Which should give hoteliers pause when pondering this additional fun fact: California is also home to the nation’s strictest privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which comes online January 1, 2020.

An article by Dana Kravetz and Taylor Foss titled, “The Importance of Protecting Your Hotel’s IP Portfolio,” was published by Hotel Business Review on January 19, 2020.

An article by Seth Darmstadter titled, “A Lesson from COVID-19: Why Wait for a Crisis To Begin Managing It?” was published in Corporate Counsel on April 28, 2020.

An article by Richard Reice titled, “INSIGHT: Coronavirus Raises OSHA Safety, Union Issues for White Collar Employers,” was published in Bloomberg Law on March 10, 2020.

An article by Taylor Foss titled, “Apparel Trademarks: How the Mere Ornamentation Technicality May Be Undermining Your Brand,” was published in IP Watchdog on August 26, 2020.

An article by Mark Robinson titled, “Admitted VS. Non-Admitted Carriers: What Insurance Agents and Brokers (and Their Clients) Need to Know,” was published in American Agents Alliance Newsletter on September 2, 2020.

An article by Taylor Foss titled, “Hazy IP: Understanding patents and trademarks through hops,” was published in Craft Brewing Business on September 3, 2020.