British Columbia has finalized regulations to provide a minimum-wage and basic protections for ride-hailing and delivery workers using app-based platforms such as Uber, DoorDash and SkipTheDishes.
The Ministry of Labour says in a statement the regulations that will take effect on Sept. 3 are a first in Canada.
It says the changes are the result of years of engagement with various stakeholders, and they address workers’ top concerns, including low and unpredictable pay, tip protection and lack of workers’ compensation.
The new rules set the minimum wage for the time a worker is engaged in a job at $20.88 per hour, 20 per cent higher than B.C.’s general minimum wage.
The province says the rationale for adding the premium is that the minimum wage does not apply to the workers’ time spent waiting between assignments.
The rules will also ensure 100 per cent of customers’ tips go to the worker and establish a 35- to 45-cent minimum per-kilometre vehicle allowance to help workers cover their expenses, as well as coverage through B.C.’s workers’ compensation agency.
The regulations will also require platforms to show workers the locations and estimated pay for a particular job before they accept it, and the companies must provide a reason if a worker is suspended or terminated from their position.
So your suggestion is that in order to keep the business afloat, Uber should be allowed to pay their workers less than minimum wage? That doesn’t sound like a reasonable business, and certainly not one I’m willing to support in my province.
This argument also falls flat because other places have done this with no increase in cost. If you look outside of the app job industry, the argument is often made that if the US raises minimum wage, places like McDonalds will get more expensive. But in Europe and elsewhere the minimum wage is way higher than the US, and their prices are not.
Allowing Uber to underpay their workers means we have to subsidize the company by providing welfare for workers who don’t earn enough. That’s coming out of our tax dollars. I’m not personally in favour of subsidizing Uber if their business can only survive by undercutting the people building it.