Skip to main content

Uber and Lyft Ramp Up Opposition to California’s Assembly Bill 5


With California’s Assembly Bill 5 moving closer to becoming law with each passing day, Uber and Lyft have both been quite vocal in regard to their increased opposition to the bill.

Readers might recall that the California Legislature is currently considering whether to approve the language of Assembly Bill 5 and send it to Governor Gavin Newsom for signature.  In short, Assembly Bill 5 would implement a new statewide test for determining whether gig workers such as those at Uber, Lyft, GrubHub, etc., are employees or independent contractors.  (Spoiler alert, Assembly Bill 5 would make it easier for a gig worker to be classified as an employee which would mean many of these gig companies would have to pay these newly classified employees higher wages, provide for rest breaks, potential paid time off, etc)

With that being said, Uber and Lyft have both been trying to amend the language of Assembly Bill 5 to provide a carve out that would exempt certain gig workers from being classified as employees.  Thus far, those efforts have not derailed the legislation as the California Senate is currently considering whether to pass Assembly Bill 5 (without that carve out.)  However, Uber and Lyft have recently held meetings with lawmakers, promising an income floor, providing certain benefits, and giving their drivers an ability to raise concerns...in exchange for these gig workers remaining classified as independent contractors.  (And that is not counting the op-eds, paid protesters, and other lobbying efforts that are seeking to kill Assembly Bill 5.)

Regardless of what Uber, Lyft, and other gig companies do, there is a deadline for passage of Assembly Bill 5 as the California legislative session ends this Friday.  Whether this legislation can make it to the finish line in time remains to be seen.  Either way, this might come down to the wire.


For additional information:  https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/amp/Uber-circulates-new-gig-work-bill-as-alternative-14426247.php

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more