You may have heard of new, drastic legislation that passed in California. That legislation directly affects app-based rideshare and delivery services, and ‘Prop 22’ is trying to save people who work for such companies.
This all may sound a bit complicated, so let me explain. The aforementioned legislation is aiming to eliminate the ability of Californians to work as independent contractors with app-based rideshare, food, and grocery delivery platforms.
It aims to force them to be classified as employees if they want to continue their employment. Now, such legislation would basically eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs and result in various other issues.
It would cause longer wait times, higher prices for such services, and it may even permanently shut down some services in some areas. Millions of people rely on such services, so such a change would definitely create a huge problem.
Prop 22 is trying to save California’s app-based rideshare services & their employees
Prop 22 aka Proposition 22 is aiming to protect the flexibility and independence that rideshare and delivers drivers prefer. It also aims to implement additional customer and public safety protections. On top of that, it wants to protect access to affordable and convenient rideshare and delivery services.
The campaign is being spread across social media platforms. The @VoteYesOn22 hashtag is being used on both Twitter and Facebook as we speak. Even a ‘yeson22.com’ website is currently up and running.
On that website, you’ll find a ton more information on prop 22, and the whole reason it came to life. The website also explains the whole situation quite well, in case you’re interested in reading.
Opinions are different from one person to the other, of course. Some people think that such employees should be officially employed, and characterized as such.
Such a huge change cannot be done overnight, it would seriously harm a lot of people
Such a change, even if forced through, definitely shouldn’t be done overnight. Uber, Lyft, and similar companies simply cannot make such a change and instantly, officially, employ that many people.
More than 1 million Californians actually chose to work as independent contracts with app-based rideshare, food, and grocery delivery platforms. Surveys confirm that the vast majority of them prefer to work as independent contractors.
Why? Well, they have all the flexibility they want, and control over their schedules. 80-percent of them work only part-time, so flexibility is the key in all this.