Tag Archives: Rideshare

Gig Drivers Get Hazard and Sick Pay

Gig drivers are essential workers, bringing us the food and goods we’ve needed for the last six months and providing rideshare services during the pandemic. Gig drivers in Seattle recently won first-in-the-nation hazard pay and sick leave ordinances. 

The Fair Work Center announced the victory for Seattle gig delivery workers. The full announcement notice, excerpted below, can be read here.

Hazard Pay

Food delivery gig drivers are entitled to $2.50 in hazard pay for each restaurant or grocery delivery made inside the Seattle city limits. Hazard pay must be listed separately on the driver’s pay report, and paid out on top of what they would otherwise be paid. The hazard pay requirement took effect on Friday July 26th at 8:30pm, and continues for as long as the city’s official coronavirus state of emergency is in effect.

The City of Seattle (City) intends to make it clear that gig workers working for food delivery network companies have a right to receive premium pay for work performed during the COVID-19 emergency.

– Council Bill 119799

Read the full text of the Premium Pay for Gig Workers Ordinance for all of the details.

Paid Sick Days

Gig delivery drivers and Uber/Lyft drivers now have the right to take paid sick days. Drivers start off with a certain number of paid sick days based on how much they’ve worked back to October of 2019, and they will continue to accrue paid sick days going forward at a rate of 1 day for every 30 days you work. When a driver takes a paid sick day, they’ll get paid based on their average daily compensation, including tips. No doctor’s note or other documentation is required to take a sick day during the coronavirus pandemic.

The sick days law took effect on Monday, July 13th, 2020. They will continue while the state of emergency remains in place.

The definitions of “employee” and “employer” in local, state and federal law are broad, but food delivery network companies and transportation network companies rely on business models that treat gig workers as “independent contractors,” thereby creating barriers for gig workers to access paid sick and paid safe time and other employee protections.

– Council Bill 119793 

Read the full text of the Paid Sick and Safe Time for Gig Workers Ordinance for all of the details.

Who is Covered

The ordinance extends labor protections to gig drivers who typically don’t qualify for traditional benefits because they are currently classified as independent contractors.

The hazard pay ordinance applies to covered grocery and food delivery platforms operating in Seattle, including Instacart, Shipt, TaskRabbit, and Amazon Fresh. Covered restaurant delivery platforms include DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates, Caviar, and GrubHub. Sick pay applies to both grocery/food delivery drivers and rideshare drivers, such as Uber and Lyft.

Hazard pay and sick pay are temporary benefits that will continue as long as Seattle remains under a coronavirus state of emergency.

More Information

The City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards page on COVID-19 Gig Worker Protections has detailed information on both the Paid Sick and Safe Time for Gig Workers Ordinance and the Gig Worker Premium Pay Ordinance.

Help Fair Work Center Enforce the Laws

Like all Seattle labor standards, these laws apply to work done within Seattle city limits. Help Fair Work Center enforce the law — use their hazard pay tracker to let them know what you’re seeing, app by app and job by job.

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Guidance For Rideshare, Taxi, and Car Service Workers

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued guidance for rideshare, taxi, and car service workers. This guidance is meant to provide both workers and passengers with increased safety during the Coronavirus pandemic. In addition, OSHA has provided guidance for drivers transporting medical patients with known or suspected COVID-19.

Guidance for Employers in the Car Service Industry

For employers in the car service industry (rideshare, taxi, and other car services), the following tips can help reduce the risk of exposure to the coronavirus:

  • Encourage drivers to stay home if they are sick.
  • Ensure vehicle door handles and inside surfaces are routinely cleaned and disinfected with Environmental Protection Agency-approved cleaning chemicals from List N or that have label claims against the coronavirus.
  • Advise drivers to lower vehicle windows to increase airflow.
  • Allow drivers to wear masks over their nose and mouth to prevent spread of the virus, and ask customers to do the same.
  • Provide alcohol-based hand rubs containing at least 60 percent alcohol for both drivers and customers.
  • Provide drivers with disposable towels and Environmental Protection Agency-approved cleaning chemicals from List N or that have label claims against the coronavirus for disinfecting surfaces.
  • Provide drivers and customers with tissues and trash receptacles.
  • Limit the number of passengers drivers can transport at a single time, and install plexiglass partitions between driver and passenger compartments where possible.
  • Encourage drivers to report any safety and health concerns.
Special Precautions for Drivers Transporting Patients to Health Care Facilities

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also provides guidance for rideshare, taxi, and car service workers. OSHA considers “Medical transport workers (e.g., ambulance vehicle operators) moving known or suspected COVID-19 patients in enclosed vehicles” to be at high risk for exposure.

If you are transporting medical customers, take the following precautions:

  • Be sure to have alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing at least 60 percent alcohol content and use it often.
  • It is recommended that you wear personal protective equipment, such as disposable gloves and a face mask. It is important to replace your disposable gloves and face mask after every medical customer.
  • If you are transporting a patient that is known to or is suspected to have COVID-19, OSHA recommends that you wear a respirator. You may also want to wear a gown and a face shield or goggles if you help customers in and out of the car.
  • After helping a medical passenger out of the car, you should remove all protective equipment and wash your hands or use high alcohol content hand sanitizer before getting back into your car.
  • Speak to your company administration about providing personal protective equipment if they have not provided it.
More Information

For more information, visit www.osha.gov/coronavirus or call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).

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