Look at you go! You’ve joined the Moves Collective, powered through your first task, and claimed your share. Congratulations on earning your shares and becoming an owner in the gig company you help power! Now you may be wondering, what’s next? What does it mean to be an owner, and what shareholder rights do you have?
Don’t worry, we’ll cover the basics of what it means to be an owner with the Moves Collective and what rights of stockholders you’re entitled to. First, we’ll start with what you received after completing your task… Your stock reward*!
Stocks, also known as shares, are the units of ownership in a publicly-traded company. By owning stocks, you become a shareholder of the company. For example, if you were rewarded with Uber stock, then that makes you a shareholder of Uber.
Not only do you get an economic stake in the business’ performance when you hold stock, but in practice, you’re an owner of the business—even if just a small one. And owning stock* means you may get a say in how decisions are made.
What Rights do Shareholders Have?
Common stock is the most common type of stock and is what we’ll be covering in this article since that is the type of stock you’ll receive when you complete tasks with the Moves Collective. As we mentioned, owning stock means you become a shareholder of the company—often referred to as common stockholders. And as a common stockholder, your ownership comes with a handful of rights as outlined by our partner, Bumped.
Common stockholders have the right to:
- Inspect corporate books and records
- Vote on major issues
- Participate in the profits and receive dividends
- Residual claim during liquidation
- Limited liability
- Transfer ownership
- Preemptive rights
- Sue for wrongful acts
While these rights could vary depending on the state regulation where a company is incorporated, there’s a good chance that you will be entitled to most, if not all, of these shareholder rights.
But there’s one shareholder right that stands out and will make a difference with the Moves Collective—your right to vote. The more shares you own with the Moves Collective, the stronger our voice collectively becomes, and with your help, we can start driving real change to make the gig economy work for everyone.
Voting Rights of Shareholders
When you own at least one full share in a company, such as Uber, then you will become eligible to vote on certain business decisions. Stockholders have the rights to be at stockholder meetings, sometimes referred to as annual general meetings (AGM). These meetings are yearly gatherings of a company’s interested shareholders and it gives you the opportunity to vote on current issues.
When you join the Moves Collective and complete tasks, you are rewarded with fractional shares of the platforms you earn income on that our program supports. The exact stock and amount can differ between each task completed and will be provided by our partner, Bumped Financial. As an owner with the Moves Collective, you are helping us grow our collective voice and now also have the opportunity to gain shareholder rights, including voting when you have a full share or more!
The more tasks you complete, the more shares you will receive in eligible gig companies. And the more gig economy stocks you accumulate with the Moves Collective, the greater your share of the gig economy becomes and the stronger our voice grows.
As our voice grows, we will have the ability to leverage our collective power and voice to push for change that is beneficial and sustainable. We will stand together to advocate for better working conditions, benefits, living wages, better customer support, and more! It’s time to be heard, but we need your support to continue helping us build up the Moves Collective by completing more tasks and accumulating your shares. It’s free of cost to you anyways!
The Moves Collective is currently a beta invite-only program and will be rolling out invites throughout the next few months. Moves Spending Account members can request early access and join our waitlist within the Collective tab in the app. Download now to become a Moves member!
Sally is the Growth Marketer at Moves. With years of experience as an independent contractor, she understands both the fulfillment and challenges that come with the gig economy. Now, she is enthusiastic to help build a collective voice to put gig workers at the forefront and drive meaningful change.
