I'm impressed. The Atlantic is now running articles about strippers.
We've had a number of discussions about whether strippers should be independent contractors or employees, and I think our conclusion was that the independent contractor model provides strippers with better money and customers with better service. The problem is with strip club owners who treat strippers like employees but classify them as independent contractors.
"[The judge] also ruled that the chain is required to grant all dancers in their clubs employee status within six months, ending the illegal practice of classifying dancers as independent contractors while also placing workplace demands on them that far exceed that legal status. By managing dancers like employees but putting them on the books as independent contractors, club owners get out of paying dancers the benefits they're legally entitled to, which could include worker's compensation, unemployment, and health insurance if they qualify. Owners and management alike tell dancers they're independent, but they still exercise control over dancers on the job, routinely using the kinds of restrictive rules on breaks and conduct you've come to expect of Wal-Mart, not the mythically "anything goes" world of sex work."
Most clubs here have a few requirements for the girls. They can show up whenever they like but stay the whole shift and try to make money. And not be drunk, high, or rude. And the girls can take breaks and leave the club for lunch. Pretty easy.