[Canada] Legislative changes for B.C.’s app-based gig workers

In Canada, British Columbia (B.C.) has introduced new legislation to improve working conditions and extend minimum employment standards for app-based ride-hailing and food-delivery gig workers, The Link reports.

The move tackles the priority concerns workers have raised including low and unpredictable wages, losing jobs without warning and a lack of workers’ compensation coverage if injuries are sustained on the job.

Amendments will reportedly be made to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and the Workers Compensation Act (WCA) to define online platform workers and to ensure that ride-hail and food-delivery workers will be considered employees, specifically for the purposes of the ESA and WCA.

App-based food-delivery workers include those who deliver food or other goods through an app that matches customer orders with a delivery courier. The government estimates there are currently approximately 11,000 ride-hailing drivers and 27,000 food-delivery workers in B.C.

The proposed legislative amendments do not require formal employment relationships between app-based workers and platform companies. The amendments instead outline that these workers will be considered employees for the purposes of the Employment Standards Act and Workers Compensation Act, whether they are employees or independent contractors.

Employment standards will reportedly be established to bring fairness and predictability to such jobs through new regulations that can be reviewed over time and improved where necessary.

“Last week, I announced several proposed solutions that respond to the needs of the workers who deliver our meals and drive us where we need to go,” Harry Bains - Minister of Labour - said. “Today, I am tabling a bill in the house to establish the legislative authority for those protections so that the regulations can be developed as quickly as possible.”

“This is the first and a very crucial step towards recognising us as hard-working individuals. We can look forward to receiving a fair resolution process, pay that reflects our hard work and basic rights and benefits like any contributing member of society,” Inder Raj Gill - a ride-hailing driver in Vancouver - told The Link.

The new standards and protections will come into effect once the legislation has passed, new regulations are developed and companies have had time to update their technology to implement the new requirements.

Source: The Link

(Quotes via original reporting)

In Canada, British Columbia (B.C.) has introduced new legislation to improve working conditions and extend minimum employment standards for app-based ride-hailing and food-delivery gig workers, The Link reports.

The move tackles the priority concerns workers have raised including low and unpredictable wages, losing jobs without warning and a lack of workers’ compensation coverage if injuries are sustained on the job.

Amendments will reportedly be made to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and the Workers Compensation Act (WCA) to define online platform workers and to ensure that ride-hail and food-delivery workers will be considered employees, specifically for the purposes of the ESA and WCA.

App-based food-delivery workers include those who deliver food or other goods through an app that matches customer orders with a delivery courier. The government estimates there are currently approximately 11,000 ride-hailing drivers and 27,000 food-delivery workers in B.C.

The proposed legislative amendments do not require formal employment relationships between app-based workers and platform companies. The amendments instead outline that these workers will be considered employees for the purposes of the Employment Standards Act and Workers Compensation Act, whether they are employees or independent contractors.

Employment standards will reportedly be established to bring fairness and predictability to such jobs through new regulations that can be reviewed over time and improved where necessary.

“Last week, I announced several proposed solutions that respond to the needs of the workers who deliver our meals and drive us where we need to go,” Harry Bains - Minister of Labour - said. “Today, I am tabling a bill in the house to establish the legislative authority for those protections so that the regulations can be developed as quickly as possible.”

“This is the first and a very crucial step towards recognising us as hard-working individuals. We can look forward to receiving a fair resolution process, pay that reflects our hard work and basic rights and benefits like any contributing member of society,” Inder Raj Gill - a ride-hailing driver in Vancouver - told The Link.

The new standards and protections will come into effect once the legislation has passed, new regulations are developed and companies have had time to update their technology to implement the new requirements.

Source: The Link

(Quotes via original reporting)