California voters decided Tuesday that Uber and Lyft can deny drivers benefits by classifying them as independent contractors instead of employees, according to a report.
Under the new bill, the ride-hailing and delivery companies can continue operating as they do currently — without giving workers “full employment” status, which allows workers to seek sick pay, health care and minimum wage, NBC.com reported.
The initiative, Proposition 22, overturned a state labor law that made it easier to count drivers as employees rather than independent contractors.
Supporters of the measure included Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft, and Postmates, which together raised more than $200 million to back it. Opponents included labor unions and top Democrats including former Vice President Joe Biden.
Uber driver Sergei Fyodorov discusses why he supports a yes vote on Proposition 22AFP via Getty Images“Gig economy giants are trying to gut the law and exempt their workers. It’s unacceptable,” Biden tweeted in May.
State lawmakers in New York are also grappling with the issue of whether gig-economy drivers should be considered employees for the purposes of collecting unemployment and workers’ compensation.
