The reality

We agree. But Bill 88 actually entitles gig platform workers to less than minimum wage. It requires platform companies to pay minimum wage only for assignment time. Workers will not get paid for all our time worked.

Imagine a construction worker getting paid only while the hammer is on the nail, or a cashier only while their fingers are on the register, a nurse only while sitting at a bedside, and you get the picture.

And who decides what time is considered “on assignment?” The law itself doesn’t define this.

Bill 88 does the opposite of ensuring minimum wage; it ensures sub-minimum wage.

Not only does the minimum wage not apply to all hours worked, but Bill 88 also does not deal with employment-related expenses, which reduce real wages farther below the minimum. We provide ourr cars, bikes, gas, insurance, and maintenance out of our own pocket, further reducing our real income. This is true while we’re “on assignment” and while we’re not! Other employers have to cover these costs as part of doing business.

What workers need is reimbursement for all necessary work-related expenses and pay for all hours at work.

The reality

It’s already the law in Ontario that employers can’t withhold or make deductions from workers’ tips. This has been true since 2016. This government wants credit for something they should already be enforcing, like all the existing Employment Standards Act provisions.

The reality

Bill 88 allows the apps to continue misclassifying us as independent contractors. Misclassification means being excluded from minimum employment rights and benefits. Platform companies’ business model relies on precarious workers – misclassified as independent contractors – so they don’t have to follow labour laws.

What we need is the same rights and benefits that every other worker should have. That includes:

• overtime pay for all hours of work over the overtime threshold,
• vacation and public holiday pay,
• rest periods,
• pregnancy and parental leave,
• Employment Insurance eligibility and employer-paid premiums
• Canada Pension Plan employer contributions, and
• other basic workplace protections available to employees under the Employment Standards Act,

Ending misclassification is the key to all of the above.

The reality

Pay transparency is good; we’ve been asking for that. But in the long run, workers who negotiate wages with employers are much better off. Simply knowing how our pay is calculated is one small step. What we need is the right to form a union, and protection from unjust dismissal.

What that means

Portable health benefit programs are part of Uber’s plan to keep us precarious and without access to employment rights. Ontario’s Labour minister, on Uber’s request, created a working group to design and pilot a portable benefits program.

But there’s no need for a pilot project – this has been tried before. Similar benefit programs in the U.S. have been mostly inaccessible to workers when they need it.

What workers need is universal access to health benefits, and not at the expense of our employment rights.