Publication Date

1-1-2020

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

Sturm College of Law

Keywords

College athletes, Student employees, Sports, Work study, Student-athletes, Employees, Department of Labor, Collective bargaining, Unions, Union organizing, Revenue-generating sports, College sports

Abstract

This article will begin by looking at some current and recent litigation brought by college athletes against their respective universities as well as recent state legislation that may affect their status as employees. Part I will focus on what the courts, agencies, scholars, and state legislators have said or implied about whether these athletes are or should be employees under the law. This Part will demonstrate why the designation of athletes in revenue-generating sports is fragile and cannot endure for much longer. Part II switches and focuses on college “work study” programs, showing in fact that there is nothing unusual or strange about having students work as “employees” in college, and then showing how work study can serve as an effective template for structuring the relationship between a college or university and its football or basketball players. This Part shows that colleges have very little to fear by treating these elite student athletes as employees, and that such a transition can actually be a relatively easy one. This Part explains how colleges and universities can treat these student-athletes as employees for work study programs by a minor change in Department of Labor Regulations. Part III will take a look at how collective bargaining in college might happen, what are likely to be the subjects of bargaining, and why, in fact, union organizing and collective bargaining rights for athletes in revenue-generating sports will be critical in the new alt-labor world of college athlete employment.

Rights Holder

Roberto L. Corrada, Chicago-Kent College of Law

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

30 pgs

File Size

238 KB

Publication Statement

Copyright held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

This article was originally published as Roberto L. Corrada, College Athletes in Revenue-Generating Sports as Employees: A Look into the Alt-Labor Future, 95 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 187 (2020).

Volume

95

First Page

187

Last Page

216

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