SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Launching what could become one of the most expensive issue campaigns in California history, a trio of Silicon Valley sharing-economy companies on Tuesday unveiled a ballot measure to exclude many of those they pay for work from being considered benefits-earning employees.
The proposal, which Uber, Lyft and DoorDash intend to qualify for the statewide ballot next November, states that an "app-based driver is an independent contractor" as long as a series of conditions are met by a company. The initiative says drivers will be guaranteed a minimum amount of pay as well as insurance to cover work-related injuries and auto accidents. And it lays out details for healthcare subsidies, protections against on-the-job harassment or discrimination and a system to enforce some workplace rights.
Many of the initiative's details reflect criticisms leveled against the companies by supporters of Assembly Bill 5, the new law taking effect in January that will apply a series of rigorous new tests a company must meet before excluding workers from being designated as an employee. How to determine a worker's job status was the key finding in a far-reaching ruling by the California Supreme Court in 2018. Lawmakers spent months deciding whether to limit the ruling's impact on some businesses and, if so, to what extent.
Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, AB 5 was at the center of an intense state Capitol battle between organized labor and business groups. Companies representing a wide swath of the state's economy _ physicians, accountants and investment advisors, among many others _ were carved out of the new law, insisting their operations would suffer or cease to exist if they were forced to provide benefits and extend rigorous workplace rules to more of the men and women currently paid as independent contractors. Many other industries were not, and lawmakers have promised to consider additional changes when they return to Sacramento in January.
The spring and summer debate also marked the political debut of California's app-based companies, whose business model dominated much of the discussion over the law's impact.
The decision by the companies to submit a proposal for next November's statewide ballot was made over the summer during the height of legislative negotiations. But exactly what the companies would ask California voters to enact wasn't clear until the 17-page proposal was submitted to the state attorney general for review on Tuesday.
In many ways, the initiative seeks to offer remedies to some of the biggest complaints lodged against Uber, Lyft and DoorDash, both by their drivers and by labor activists. The ballot measure states, for example, that all tips paid by customers will go to drivers and will not result in a driver being paid less money _ plus it establishes minimum pay of 120% of California's minimum wage, which is scheduled to rise to $13 an hour for most businesses next year.
Drivers would also be paid a 30-cents-per-mile fee for expenses such as gas and vehicle maintenance, an amount to be adjusted annually for inflation. And it promises driver protections that will exist even if a person chooses to work with more than one company. A driver could receive a healthcare stipend from multiple app-based companies.
Criticisms have hounded the companies over driver and passenger safety. The initiative requires criminal-background checks and bans on drivers convicted of certain felonies and of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It also requires companies to provide safety training and gives those drivers until July 1, 2021, to complete the courses provided.
The proposal is a latecomer to the 2020 ballot measure process. Most supporters of likely measures had their initiatives vetted by state officials weeks or months ago and were already collecting voter signatures. The relatively late start for the tech companies means they will likely have to pay more to circulate petitions, with the ultimate goal of gathering more than 623,000 valid voter signatures by spring of next year.
