Who should qualify for minimum wage protections, sick leave or any of the other benefits typically given employees?
alformia's state Legislature is reopening that high-stakes,decades-long debate, as it prepares to vote on a proposal that would give hundreds of thousands of contract workers, such as drivers of ride haling companies, new benefits by legally relassfyig them as employees. If it passes, the state's narrower definition of "contractor" would trigger a host of other changes for companies that would then have to pay for Social Security, workers' compensation and unemployment insurance. Large employers would also have to pay for health insurance. This would be a significant development in workplace law and could eventually have implications for workers and companies across the country.
The proposed change is of keen interest to a rapidly growing population of contractors like
Leonardo Diaz. For most of the past 4 years, he has made a decent living working 40 to 50 hours a week driving for the ride-hailing companies. "I love interacting with people," says the father of four, who lives in Los Angeles. But more recently, Diaz has soured on his job. He says that both ride- haling companies cut his share of payments, reducing his take home pay to only $9 an hour,after taking the cost of gas, insurance and car repairs into account. But he says the bigger problem is that he is tired of working as a contractor and misses employee health and paid leave benefits he used to recive when he worked as a valet. "We don't get any holiday pay, "Diaz says.
"If we get sick, you know, nobody's going to pay for our doctors," Contractors like Diaz make up a fast-growing part of the workforce. And any company in California using them could be affected.
The impact of the new law would reverberate beyond the state.
"Everyone is looking to California right now and they're all following it with bated breath because they recognize that likely whatever happens in California is going to sweep across the country," says Monique Ngo-Bonnici, an attorney in California. The proposal expands on a landmark California Supreme Court ruling last year that extended wage protections to more workers and narrowed the definition of "independent contractor." The. legislative proposal expands on that ruling and would give workers benefits like paid sick leave and protections under anti-discrimination laws. Ngo-Bonnici argues that the, California proposal would put big constraints on workers and companies alike. Speically, it would mean more workers will be put on shifts, which in certain municipalities must be scheduled weeks in advance . - - -giving workers far less flexibiliy, she says.
One ride-hailing company confirms it would have to revamp its operations in the state drivers are redassified as employees." We would need far fewer drivers than we currently have."says Adrian Durbin, a company spokesman. And those that remained would have a much more rigid work schedule. Durbin says those Big companies pushed California lawmakers for a middle ground that would grant independent contractors a narrower set of benefits, like minimum wage guarantees, without making them ullledged employees.
What can be the best title of the report?
A. The Rise of Contract Workers: More Benefits Aro Needed.
B. Contract Work with Benefits: Califormnia Might Provide a Model
C. The Dilemma of Gig Economy: More Workers but Fewer Benefits.
D. The Future of Benefits: More Efforts for Legislation on Contract Workers
