Province to propose new gig worker laws that mandate minimum wage

In a bid to establish a “foundational set of core rights” 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’ algorithms impact pay structure and performance ratings, and require digital platforms to settle employment disputes in Ontario — after courts previously slapped down a foreign arbitration clause in Uber’s contracts with workers.

“With these changes, we’re going to be lifting up the lives of thousands of gig workers in Ontario,” labor minister Monte McNaughton said in an interview. “There are injustices that are happening across the province and it’s unacceptable.”

The legislation will not address workers’ employment status, which labor 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 — 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 labor ministry ruling that found an Uber Eats courier was an employee of the tech giant — 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’s working conditions to be “indicative of an employment relationship.”

The decision orders Uber to pay Sharma $1019 and to comply with provincial employment laws, noting that Sharma “did not consistently receive minimum wage for his hours worked.”

Uber said it intends to appeal the ruling, which it describes as out of step with “other findings from the same Ministry and similar agencies.”

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 “long overdue” for gig workers. He said he wants the government to take broader action on its findings.

“We’ve been saying since day one, Uber is not a tech company. Uber is deciding what labor rights we get, how we do our work.”

“It is very important for us to be recognized as employees,” he added. “This is what gives the job some dignity.”

In an interview with the Star, McNaughton said he was aware of the ruling and says the legislation being proposed Monday is not necessarily “an endpoint.”

“This is about raising the floor, not setting a ceiling,” he said.

On top of pay transparency, the province’s 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’ algorithms work “fantastic” and said it will address concerns he’s had “for ages.” 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 “disgusted” to find that pay rates suddenly plummeted with no explanation, often leaving him with less than minimum wage.

“It’s just very disappointing, it’s disheartening,” 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.

“Why should we be treated as a second-class worker?” he said.

Last year, Uber put forward a proposal called “Flexible Work+” which is described as a “modern approach” to app-based work. It proposed providing workers with “self-directed benefits” 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 “unacceptable.”

Around one in five workers across Canada now works in the gig economy.

“It’s important that governments with evolving technologies and changes in the workplace,” said McNaughton.