Rideshare Drivers United

Achieving Dignity for Platform Drivers With the Overturn of Prop 22:

A Simple Solution: Build Pay Regulation on Top of CA Labor Law 

 

Goals: To ensure drivers achieve dignity in pay, health, and deactivation, with the overturn of Prop 22 by regulating the rideshare industry as follows:

  • Pass simple, easy to understand legislation and/or municipal ordinances that will put in place a minimum pay rate card of $1.75 per mile/$0.60 per minute: so drivers earn enough money per ride to cover all work time - including a fair amount of wait time and drivers’ high expenses related to operating a vehicle.

  • To ensure health benefits due to all workers under California law are also paid to platform drivers.

  • To protect drivers’ rights to their jobs by requiring companies to adhere to just cause & fair hearings in terminations & suspensions (“deactivations”), as well as advance notice.

 

Why we need regulation when we have AB 5 

 

While AB5 - the ABC Test - will be the law that determines employment status of platform drivers’ rights once Prop 22 is overturned in California, employment rights alone don’t help define how platform drivers should be paid in order to align with law. Nor does it give the state good tools to enforce the law. AB5 will immediately give all app workers access to benefits and protections afforded all California workers - such as unemployment, workers comp, and safety standards. Enforcing minimum pay laws in platform work requires regulation built on top of employment rights, that defines how people are paid while protecting the flexibility app-work affords drivers. Regulation of pay - seen in NYC and Seattle - gives states a structured and straightforward framework - a rate card defining a per mile/per minute minimum rate - that is data driven, ensuring minimum pay standards are being followed, including a fair amount of wait time and expenses, while making it easier to enforce pay standards for all platform workers.

 

Resources:

 

NELP’s survey of US regulation:  App-Based “Gig” Worker Legislation Introduced in States

New York Taxi & Limousine Commission - the regulatory agency in NYC

RDU’s 3 studies that show the reality of platform work under 22, and without rights around robot firings

Report on how rideshare driver pay regulation actually protects passengers from price gouging by Uber & Lyft:



DIGNITY FOR DRIVERS REGULATION: Summary for State Legislation or Local Ordinances



Area

Goals | Specifics

Confirms Labor Rights

Confirm that platform-based transport workers as defined under California’s ABC test are covered by all California labor laws, including minimum wage standards, unemployment, safety protections. This regulation builds on top of this law to define specifically how drivers in this sector are paid.

Flexibility 

  • Platform-based drivers will be guaranteed the right to self-schedule. 

  • Platform-based drivers will have the right to work multiple apps.

  • Platform-based drivers will be able to see all information about a ride - pick up point, destination point, and estimated pay - in advance of accepting a ride.

  • Companies cannot change rules limiting driver flexibility without adequate notice and a hearing process that would take into consideration driver community feedback.   

Labor Law - Enforcement

  1. This regulation is a labor regulation, pertaining to their pay.  

  2. State regulation would reinforce municipalities’ rights to regulate stronger protections, higher pay than state.

  3. If companies fail to comply, regulators would have the right to pull their license to operate. 

  • Ensures a powerful tool for enforcement - as opposed to waiting through years of litigation. 

Pay Regulation

  1. Simple Pay Rate Card for miles and minutes - Rates would start at a $1.75 per mile/$0.60 per minute as a guaranteed floor, and after a year, be based on the following calculation:

    Rates shall be calculated to ensure the following: (similar to NYC-TLC rules)

    1. Per Mile/Per Minute rates would be high enough to ensure that even after expenses and accounting for wait time between rides, drivers would earn the equivalent of at least $20/hour for all work time (not just “engaged” time). 

    2. Average wait time between rides would be calculated through data collected from the companies: As in NYC regulation, data is calculated to find average Occupancy/Utilization Rate (time driver spends with a passenger vs. wait + pick up time) and from that, average wait time is calculated. 

  • This calculation provides an important incentive for companies to ensure a higher occupancy rate, therefore not overcrowding rideshare cars on the road. (Enviro/traffic/earnings improvements)

  • The way it is paid - as part of the per trip calculation - allows drivers to work multi-apps seamlessly.

  1. Minimum $5 per ride.

  2. Tips are not included as driver earnings to establish minimum earnings standards. 

  3.  

    Tips from customers shall be paid to drivers in full, clearly indicated as passenger tips in any pay summary. 

  1. Annual Cost of Living (COL) increases, IRS Standard Mileage Reimbursement Rate, as well as Utilization rates will be recalculated annually and be reflected in annual Pay Rate Card minimum.


  1. Commission cap at 20% - to ensure companies guarantee 80% of passenger fare goes to driver. 

  • Passenger rate protection mechanism.

Data

For regulation to be enforced and proper rates calculated, full data from companies must be shared with the government body in order for the company to operate there. 

Deactivation Protection

  1. Just cause, fair hearings, and transparency must be upheld by companies deactivating workers - (deactivation is termination or suspension by app)

    1. Just Cause - there must be a reason for the deactivation, the driver must know the reason and have known it was a potential reason for deactivation, and the company must have evidence (not just a customer complaint) that the event triggering deactivation happened, and was the worker’s fault.

    2. Fair Hearings - drivers may trigger a company hearing for any deactivation. In hearing company must present just cause evidence and be attended by a human from the company in the decision-making process.

    3. Transparency - drivers must know the rules and risks for deactivation in advance. Drivers must know what exact behavior or alleged behavior or situation triggered the deactivation - including the exact complaint or evidence related to allegation.

  2. Protections from false complaints:

    1. Advance notice - Except in the cases that present immediate danger to driver, passenger, or other, 30 days notice must be given in advance of deactivation during which time the fair hearing must take place. 

    2. Compensation - If driver is not at fault, or complaint is false, drivers are compensated for time they lost during suspension from the app.

Health Insurance

To ensure platform drivers who work regularly and achieve average per week hours (including wait time as calculated in pay formula) required under California law receive health insurance coverage.