The most important thing for gig drivers is being able to work whenever they want
For most gig drivers, there is one subject that matters to them more than anything and that is being able to work when and wherever they want. If proposition 22 passes, gig workers will continue to be able to work when and where they want. If it's defeated, that wouldn't be the case anymore. Many dashers, and other gig workers would be completely shut out of their business.
When I say shut out of their business, I mean it literally. Currently, Doordash drivers are independent contractors. They are business owners that work for themselves. They use a platform to receive offers and decide when and where they will work. As business owners, dashers have the ability to accept or decline offers based on their own decision making skills. If Prop 22 is defeated, tens of thousands of small businesses are going to become non-existent.
As already mentioned, Doordash drivers, and other app based gig workers can work whenever they want. If a driver chooses to work only weekends, he may do so. If a house wife chooses to work when her kids are at school and she has the energy, she may dash in the afternoons. If a dasher does 80 hours of dashing for the first week of each month and does not dash for the next three weeks of the month, that is fine. As independent contactors, a gig driver works when and where they want.
If gig workers are turned into employees by the state of California, that freedom will be completely taken away. Doordash will have to reclassify its drivers as employees and most dashers would have to end their business relationship with Doordash. Those that do continue to have a position with Doordash would then be hourly employees with a set schedule.
The vast majority of dashers have a full time job and make Doordash deliveries on the side when time allows. They are not going to quite their main careers to work as an employee of Doordash. Then there are those like myself that run a full time business. Gig work is done on the side to help pay a couple of monthly bills. I'm not going to give up my business to work as a Doordash employee.
Having a small Doordash business on the side works great, but to be a Doordash employee delivering food on a set schedule and having to accept every call does not make any sense. If that were the case, most dashers would have just went out and got a second job. Instead, they started a small part time Doordash business to work on the side because that is what made sense. For the state of California to come along and try to change all of that is just wrong!
The sad fact is that if Proposition 22 is defeated, there will be a lot of people losing their side hustle money. This will bring down the income for lots of people, and that can't be good for them or the state of California. The only gig drivers that may be a bit satisfied with a Prop 22 defeat would be those that for some reason would like to be a Doordash delivery driver employee. These people are far and few, but they do exist.
What would happen to dashers if gig drivers became employees?
If Proposition 22 was defeated, the vast majority of dashers will basically not be making any more deliveries for Doordash or any of the other food delivery apps. Most Uber and Lyft drivers would sadly have to completely give up on their side hustle. We would all be doomed! Why? Because we would not be able to dedicate ourselves to a new job. If I were an employee of Doordash, I would be required to work a set schedule, and I would not be able to do that.
Most app based drivers do their gig work as a "Work-When-I-Want" type of thing. It's a side hustle. It's usually not a main source of income; although at times it may be. When folks have the time and energy to go out and do their side hustle, they get on their app and are instantly able to make deliveries or pick up passengers. Many dashers use the Doordash platform to earn extra income that'll get them by for the month. If Prop 22 is defeated, that extra income is jeopardized.
For those of us that have a main job or a business to run, honoring a set Doordash schedule is not an option. We couldn't work for Doordash as an employee. There's been times when I've been out dashing and received an important business call letting me know that I had to be somewhere as soon as possible. This was not a problem. I would finish my current delivery, log off and continue on with my business.
If I felt like dashing some more later, I would. If I was too tired and not up to it, I'd save it for another day. This is what is great about being an independent contractor with Doordash. You are in control! As a Doordash employee, none of this would be possible!
Currently, as independent contractors, dashers can decline any offer they choose. If the payout and distance is not satisfactory, an easy press of the decline button is all it takes to let Doordash know that you will not accept that call. As a Doordash employee, dashers would have to take every single call that Doordash gives them. There would no longer be any more declining calls.
This is not about being a lazy employee that does not want to take certain calls. The point is that these Doordash driving positions were not created to be employee positions. They were made for independent contractors that would have the ability to choose or deny offers. Doordash drivers are business owners that make their own decisions.
If Prop 22 is defeated, and Doordash drivers become employees, they will no longer be business owners. Instead, they will become employees of a food delivery company. The only people that would benefit off of becoming employees are those that want to work for Doordash as a full time job, and we are going to talk about them next.
Why don't "No" on Prop 22 supporters just go get another job?
Those that are against Proposition 22 and are in favor of voting "No" on prop 22 would like Doordash drivers to be employees of the company. The same goes with Uber and the rest of the app based gig economy companies. You really have to wonder why these people think the way they do. Think about it. There are lots of employment opportunities out there for drivers. Is it not possible for these people to go get an employee job with those companies. Why do they need these app based gig companies to turn them into employees?
What they are looking for is already out there. There is no need to turn Doordash and the other gig companies into what they want. It is really absurd if you really stop and think about it. It's understandable that these people have an employee mentality and just want a regular hourly wage. There's nothing wrong with that. There are many jobs like that for these people out there.
With that said, it also has to be understood that there are dashers that have a business owners mentality and treat their dashing as such. These people would rather rely on strategy and business decisions to make as much money as possible and never be limited by an hourly wage. There are currently positions for independent contractors out there, but if Prop 22 is defeated, those positions will be severely reduced. We shouldn't let that happen. Vote "Yes" on Proposition 22, and let's end all this nonsense.
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