50 signatures reached
To: Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Uber, Inc.; Logan Green, CEO, Lyft, Inc.; Matt Maloney, CEO, Grubhub, Inc. ; Apoorva Mehta, CEO, Instacart; Tony Xu, CEO, Doordash, Inc.; Bastian Lehmann, CEO, Postmates; Oisin Hanrahan, CEO, Handy Technologies, Inc.
Gig economy companies: Give workers paid sick days to combat coronavirus
Uber drivers, food delivery, and other gig workers are on the frontlines of the potential spread of coronavirus -- but unlike many employees, most of them lack paid sick days that would allow them to stay home if they or a loved one are feeling sick and don't have access to employer-sponsored health insurance to get affordable care.
Gig economy companies have an obligation to workers, customers, and the broader public, to ensure that all their workers can stay home if needed without financial hardship.
Gig economy companies have an obligation to workers, customers, and the broader public, to ensure that all their workers can stay home if needed without financial hardship.
Why is this important?
As the coronavirus outbreak continues to grow, gig economy corporations that retain workers as independent contractors have a particular responsibility to their workers, their customers, and to the broader public. Food delivery workers, for-hire vehicle drivers, and others working in the gig economy are particularly vulnerable to the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus outbreak. Gig workers who drive cars, deliver food orders, or clean homes do work that entails near-constant interaction with people in public spaces, putting them at greater risk for exposure to coronavirus and other illnesses. Yet as independent contractors, your workers do not receive any paid sick leave or have access to employer-backed health insurance. As a result, they often cannot afford to stay home if they or a family member is sick, and they are much less likely to receive quality healthcare.
It is incumbent on you to take steps to protect your workforce, your customers, and the broader public from the spread of the virus -- beginning with providing paid sick days to your workers during this public health crisis.
We commend steps that Uber, Lyft, Postmates and others have announced to support workers infected with the coronavirus, but more is needed to protect all workers and contain the spread of the virus.
We join with calls from Working Washington and Gig Workers Rising in calling on your companies to:
-Provide your contract workers with paid sick time, equivalent to what they would have if they were employees.
-Provide workers with free hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and/or any other resources they may need to keep themselves and their vehicles virus-free.
-Be transparent with workers about risks as you learn about them, and about any steps being taken to keep workers and customers safe.
-Suspend the practice of penalizing workers for missing scheduled blocks of work, ending shifts early, or rejecting jobs.
-Pay workers their average weekly income if they are prevented from working due to a recommendation by public health authorities to temporarily quarantine them due to exposure that occurred while working.
-Encourage workers to leave deliveries at the door rather than make them face-to-face, and disable any rating systems that penalize workers for doing so.
-Agree to let workers collect unemployment benefits if they are unable to work due to coronavirus or coronavirus response.
-Provide workers the option to receive an advance on their future earnings in order to replace lost income associated with coronavirus.
-Not permanently deactivate workers who happen to contract coronavirus.
-Take affirmative steps to oppose any form of discrimination or harassment based on race, national origin, or anything else.
We urge you to take immediate steps to protect your workers and the general public during this public health crisis.
It is incumbent on you to take steps to protect your workforce, your customers, and the broader public from the spread of the virus -- beginning with providing paid sick days to your workers during this public health crisis.
We commend steps that Uber, Lyft, Postmates and others have announced to support workers infected with the coronavirus, but more is needed to protect all workers and contain the spread of the virus.
We join with calls from Working Washington and Gig Workers Rising in calling on your companies to:
-Provide your contract workers with paid sick time, equivalent to what they would have if they were employees.
-Provide workers with free hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and/or any other resources they may need to keep themselves and their vehicles virus-free.
-Be transparent with workers about risks as you learn about them, and about any steps being taken to keep workers and customers safe.
-Suspend the practice of penalizing workers for missing scheduled blocks of work, ending shifts early, or rejecting jobs.
-Pay workers their average weekly income if they are prevented from working due to a recommendation by public health authorities to temporarily quarantine them due to exposure that occurred while working.
-Encourage workers to leave deliveries at the door rather than make them face-to-face, and disable any rating systems that penalize workers for doing so.
-Agree to let workers collect unemployment benefits if they are unable to work due to coronavirus or coronavirus response.
-Provide workers the option to receive an advance on their future earnings in order to replace lost income associated with coronavirus.
-Not permanently deactivate workers who happen to contract coronavirus.
-Take affirmative steps to oppose any form of discrimination or harassment based on race, national origin, or anything else.
We urge you to take immediate steps to protect your workers and the general public during this public health crisis.