Ronen Tivony/Sipa USA via AP Images
Uber and Lyft drivers hold placards during a protest against the ridesharing companies’ low wages, February 5, 2020, in Los Angeles.
Remember that time when Uber and Lyft bought a new classification for their workers in California? To be precise, the companies spent $224 million, a record for a ballot initiative at the time, to promote Prop 22, which carved out a new classification for rideshare and delivery workers in the Golden State, who would not be employees but would get, according to Uber and Lyft, more wage and benefit guarantees than an independent contractor.
Uber and Lyft made some specific promises in that campaign. They said that drivers would earn 120 percent of the local minimum wage, and 30 cents per mile driven. They promised a heavy stipend for health insurance if drivers worked a certain number of hours. And they vowed to provide occupational accident insurance as a form of workers’ compensation. That—plus $224 million—convinced voters, who approved Prop 22 with nearly 59 percent of the vote.
The subsequent implementation immediately led drivers to have to check the fine print. The guaranteed minimums and the mileage reimbursement were only for “engaged” hours, when a driver was actually taking a ride to a location. Time spent waiting for a ride, which is nearly one-third of a driver’s total work time, doesn’t count. That’s essentially off-the-clock work being done, either to find a fare or to get to the location.
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