In a bid to establish a 鈥渇oundational set of core rights鈥 for gig workers, the province says it will introduce new legislation requiring app companies to pay at least minimum wage for time spent actively making deliveries or driving customers.
The proposed new laws will require transparency around how app companies鈥 algorithms impact pay structure and performance ratings, and require digital platforms to settle employment disputes in Ontario 鈥 after courts previously slapped down a foreign arbitration clause in Uber鈥檚 contracts with workers.
鈥淲ith these changes, we鈥檙e going to be lifting up the lives of thousands of gig workers in Ontario,鈥 labour minister Monte McNaughton said in an interview. 鈥淭here are injustices that are happening across the province and it鈥檚 unacceptable.鈥
The legislation will not address workers鈥 employment status, which labour advocates see as the crux of the problem facing those in the gig economy. Critics say app companies have long misclassified gig workers as independent contractors 鈥 excluding workers from the full set of rights they would otherwise be entitled to as employees.
The proposed new reforms, expected to be announced Monday, come on the heels of a recent internal labour ministry ruling that found an Uber Eats courier was an employee of the tech giant 鈥 not an independent contractor, as the company claimed.
The decision stems from an employment standards complaint filed by Uber Eats courier Saurabh Sharma over unpaid wages and deductions from his pay and applies only to his case. In a copy of the ruling obtained by the Star, the investigating case officer found Uber exerted sufficient control over Sharma鈥檚 working conditions to be 鈥渋ndicative of an employment relationship.鈥
The decision orders Uber to pay Sharma $1019 and to comply with provincial employment laws, noting that Sharma 鈥渄id not consistently receive minimum wage for his hours worked.鈥
Uber said it intends to appeal the ruling, which it describes as out of step with 鈥渙ther findings from the same Ministry and similar agencies.鈥
Sharma said Uber offered him a settlement prior to the decision, which he refused. Although the ruling applies only to his case, Sharma called it 鈥渓ong overdue鈥 for gig workers. He said he wants the government to take broader action on its findings.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been saying from day one, Uber is not a tech company. Uber is deciding what labour rights we get, how we do our work.鈥
鈥淚t is very important for us to be recognized as employees,鈥 he added. 鈥淭his is what gives the job some dignity.鈥
In an interview with the Star, McNaughton said he was aware of the ruling and says the legislation being proposed Monday is not necessarily 鈥渁n endpoint.鈥
鈥淭his is about raising the floor, not setting a ceiling,鈥 he said.
On top of pay transparency, the province鈥檚 reforms would also require apps to provide gig workers with advance written notice detailing why their accounts will be deactivated, after complaints from workers about being arbitrarily suspended or removed from apps.
Daniel Feuer, a shopper for Instacart, called the greater transparency around how apps鈥 algorithms work 鈥渇antastic鈥 and said it will address concerns he鈥檚 had 鈥渇or ages.鈥 He says when he first started working through the app in May 2020 he could make up to $50 an hour. But he says he was 鈥渄isgusted鈥 to find that pay rates suddenly plummeted with no explanation, often leaving him with less than minimum wage.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just very disappointing, it鈥檚 disheartening,鈥 he said.
The new proposals will also prohibit app companies from withholding tips, which workers will keep on top of receiving minimum wage for engaged time on the app.
Sharma said he believes gig workers should be entitled to at least minimum wage for all time spent online, not just the time spent actively making deliveries. He says that rights, along with other protections available to employees in the province, would be secured if the province proactively enforced existing laws banning companies from misclassifying workers as contractors.
鈥淲hy should we be treated as a second-class worker?鈥 he said.
Last year, Uber put forward a proposal it called 鈥淔lexible Work+鈥 which it described as a 鈥渕odern approach鈥 to app-based work. It proposed providing workers with 鈥渟elf-directed benefits鈥 while keeping their independent contractor designation. The company has also recently signed an agreement that will see the United Food and Commercial Workers union provide workers with representation in dispute resolution.
Gig Workers United, which is backed by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, has slammed the deal, calling anything short of full employment rights 鈥渦nacceptable.鈥
Around one in five workers across Canada now works in the gig economy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important that governments with evolving technologies and changes in the workplace,鈥 said McNaughton.
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