(The Center Square) – It appears that rideshare drivers in Seattle will be making less money when a new state law creating a minimum pay standard and benefits for drivers contracting with ride-hailing companies goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.

House Bill 2076, passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this year, would guarantee drivers outside of Seattle $1.27 per mile and 37 cents per minute, with a $3.26-per-trip minimum.

Seattle’s rideshare law, passed in 2020, mandates higher pay – $1.50 per mile, 64 cents per minute and a minimum of $5.62 per trip – for ride-hailing workers in the city. The state legislation would allow the city to retain its higher rate.

“Seattle is actually going to stop their enforcement of their rules and going to be applying the rules and provisions under 2076,” Bryan Templeton, program manager for employee standards at the state Department of Labor & Industries, revealed during a Wednesday appearance on TVW’s “The Impact.”

The new law seeks to stake out a middle ground of sorts between employee and independent contractors, the latter of which is how drivers are classified by companies like Lyft and Uber.

“So, the statute itself does not make a special carveout to reclassify these drivers as employees for Uber and Lyft,” Templeton said.

What the law does is create a special carveout for protections alone, he explained.

“They are still not classified as employees of the firm,” Templeton said.

Nevertheless, the...

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