HKUST Business Review

2. Platforms Can Avoid Blanket Bans Rather than screening out anyone with any kind of a criminal record, platforms can screen variably depending on the job requirements. For jobs that are higher risk, it may make sense for platforms to screen more aggressively. But for many food delivery and service apps, less restrictive screening is sufficient to protect customers while ensuring that more workers have access to these important alternative income streams. 3. Communities Can Support Workforce Reentry Local communities also have an important role to play in supporting both safety and job access for people with criminal records. In particular, nonprofits and agencies can invest in programs to help returning citizens secure housing, job training, and counseling. For example, the Fortune Society in New York and the Safer Foundation in Chicago offer a range of resources and support to help people reenter into the workforce. 4. Governments Can Provide Social Safety Nets Finally, national, state, and local governments can all take steps to ensure that their citizens have access to reliable social safety nets. Financial cushions such as unemployment benefits or other forms of welfare reduce the immediate incentive to return to crime when BCLs limit access to legal work. As such, rather than just passing restrictive legislation that can end up pushing people back into illegal activity to survive, providing support through programs like these can help people reintegrate productively into society. Building a Safer, More Inclusive Gig Economy for Everyone Part of why BCLs can be particularly harmful is that they tend to disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Due to systemic inequalities such as racial and socioeconomic disparities in sentencing and reentry, laws that target people with criminal records often also end up worsening a wide range of outcomes related to inclusion and equity. As such, understanding these mechanisms and dynamics is vital for policymakers, platforms, and communities to design interventions that will maximize safety and wellbeing for everyone. Of course, BCLs will still have a part to play, as effective regulation is an important way to protect customers from potentially risky drivers. But our research demonstrates that these restrictions can sometimes backfire, especially when they’re excessively strict. As such, complementary strategies such as in-app safety features to deter and monitor crime and community or government programs to support reintegration can help ensure customers are protected without excessively excluding workers and unintentionally pushing them back toward crime. This article draws on the research paper “Exclusion for Public Safety or Inclusion for Gig Employment: Managing the Tension with A Trilogy of Guardians,” authored by Arun RAI, Chen Yanzhen, and LIN Yatang. Chen Yanzhen is an associate professor of information systems at HKUST, specializing in emerging technology, causal inference, and statistical learning. For platforms, there are a range of tools that can help ensure passenger safety without excessively excluding drivers. 47 HKUST Business Review