First off, I am not a lawyer, politician, union worker or anything of the sort. I am a gig worker, and I am going to give my honest insights on California's Proposition 22 that passed in November of 2020. I don't work for the state of California, and I am not associated with the big guys at Doordash. I am just an average "Joe" that uses some of these app based gig platforms to help myself make a living.
It has been over a year since all of us gig workers in California have felt the impact of Prop 22. Most of us California gig drivers have had enough time to understand how everything works. We've had enough time to weigh in on any possible negatives or positives. With that said, I am going to share with everyone how Prop 22 has affected my gig work side hustle.
Prop 22 comes down to the money
Since Prop 22 came to be, my app-based earnings have skyrocket over what they once were. The earnings for my day are basically predictable. Sort of like an employee that works at a company making $14 per hour knows that they will earn $112 for eight hours of work. There is never any worry anymore that I will have a bad day with a bunch of crappy calls. If I do, Prop 22 will help me out to make sure I am earning a decent amount of money for my efforts.
I am going to show you how things have positively changed since Prop 22 was passed. I'm going to use Doordash as my example here. I am going to share how a day of dashing used to be compared to a day of dashing today.
Dashing in California before Prop 22
Before Prop 22 came to be, Dashers were paid base pay from Doordash and the customer tip. Remember, there was no Prop 22 so whatever those earnings were is what you received. It was quite common for these calls to pay very little. Some calls would pay only $3 or $4. If things were slow, and these were the only calls out there, many Dashers would give in and take these calls instead of just sitting around not earning anything at all.
There were times when calls paid more. There would be the $6, $7 or $8 calls out there, but that still was not much. If a Dasher completed two dashes in one hour, he or she would earn around $15 for the hour. When you minus the Dasher's expenses, the Dasher probably made closer to $12 per hour. Everyone's experience was a little different, but you should get the general idea.
Sometimes there were runs that were good. There were times when a Dasher would earn $20 or $30 per hour, but that was rare. Runs like that became more of a bragging right. Nobody ever earned $30 per hour on a consistence basis for eight hours per day or 40 hours per week. Again, there were lucky runs, but nothing ever consistent.
Overall, this was not very good pay, and even though most Dashers knew that they weren't making good money after expenses, they appreciated this work as a side hustle. Just as it is today, the majority of Dashers already had a full-time job and used used gig work as a side hustle. They already had an employer, and they thought it was great to earn an extra couple of hundred (or more) dollars per week with their side gig to supplement their income.
Dashing in California after Prop 22
With Prop 22 in action, a Dasher, or any other app-based gig worker no longer had to to worry about low paying calls like they used to. Those $3 calls were no longer really $3 calls unless a Dasher was able to complete the order in about five minutes; which of course is not going to happen.
An average call takes me about a half hour to complete. What this equates to is about $10 of Doordash pay after figuring in my guaranteed 120 percent of minimum wage for my active time. I also receive the full customer tip. If the customer left me a small $3 tip, I will have earned $13 for that call in a half hour. Let's say the second call of the hour comes in and it pays about the same. That will be $26 that I have made for the hour. When you take away incurred expenses my real earnings will probably be around $22 for the hour.
With Prop 22, my earnings are almost double of what they used to be. It cannot get any worse than $20 per hour. This is nice considering that I don't ever have to worry about earning a measly $10 or so per hour. Sure, $20 per hour doesn't make you rich in California, but it sure is decent pay for a job as simple as delivering food.
The great thing is that I generally earn much more than $20 per hour. The customer tips are not equated in to the Doordash guaranteed pay. That means if you are getting good tips, your hourly earnings will significantly increase. It is not uncommon to earn $30 for the hour.
How would being a minimum wage employee be better than independent contractor gig work?
Those against Prop 22 feel that gig workers such as Doordash drivers should be employees. Being an employee of Doordash or any other gig company is really unimaginable to me. There would be set hours to work, and if I didn't show up , I could be fired. No thanks. I like doing this stuff on the side whenever I want. I also wouldn't want Doordash or any other platform dictating how I perform my job. As an independent contractor, I am in control of when and how I deliver.
Let's talk about the pay. Everyone knows that if gig companies were forced to make their drivers employees, all these delivery drivers would be minimum wage workers. That means $15 per hour. No thank you! How is that doing us any favors financially? And to top it all off, I wouldn't be able to just go home whenever I wanted. Yeah, this would seem like a real job, and most gig workers have never intended for this to be that sort of thing.
Oh wait a minute. As employees, we would be entitled to minimum wage, overtime pay, expense reimbursement, unemployment compensation and state workers compensation. C'mon, give me a break. You already know how I feel about the minimum wage thing, and I'm sure every other gig worker feels the same. As far as overtime pay goes, does anybody really believe that these gig companies would allow their employee drivers to get overtime hours. There is no way! In fact, most employees would be part-time workers anyways.
When we talk about expense reimbursement, it is laughable. As an independent contractor, I write off all of my expenses during tax time. Everything from my gasoline, to vehicle repair bills (If any,) cell phone expenses and so much more. I don't need any employee expense reimbursements.
Unemployment? I really don't need it and don't ever plan to be unemployed. Someone may say well you never know the future. Yes, there are unfortunate circumstances in life, and I think the unemployment program is great. It's basically like insurance, and if I pay into it I should be entitled to collect. But, I should have a choice if I want any part of it or not.
I've been working for roughly 30 years of my life, and I have never collected unemployment. With that said, I have never had an employee-employer relationship with a company for more than a couple years. I say that so someone doesn't think that I've had a stellar secure job for 30 years. It's not job security that has prevented me from ever collecting unemployment. It has always just been a desire to work and take care of myself and my family.
Lastly, I'll talk about disability insurance. Getting seriously hurt on the job can have a great impact on someone's life. There is no doubt about that. As an independent contractor, we do not get this benefit, but I am fine with that. I am willing to accept the responsibility of something happening to me while preforming my gig jobs. Again, this is an insurance type thing, and it is my choice to have it or not.
Do not think that I am against employees of companies having these worker benefits. If I was an employee, I would expect to have them. As an independent contractor, I do not expect it. Ask any business owner if anybody takes care of them with all this stuff. They will tell you that it's all on them. That's the risk one takes when working for themselves.
If I wanted these benefits, I would go an find a driving job as an employee. As an employee, I would expect a set schedule with all of the benefits that go along with a regular job. Instead, I choose to provide my independent contractor services through a platform. I work when I want and choose how I preform my services. This should be a choice that all workers have!
I wasn't happy with Doordash or the state of California
I am not going to lie, when California first started to go after the gig companies, I was kind of glad. It did seem to me that app based platforms were taking advantage of things. Most of these companies do not have a past to be proud of. Doordash in particular had a crazy tip stealing scheme going on in its earlier years. I was exposing the scheme right here on this blog before major media outlets caught on to it. Once that happened, pressure from the major media forced Doordash to stop stealing Dashers tips.
When California started going after Doordash and the other app based gig companies, I thought it was great. But then, I started to hear all this employee talk and I was like nope! In no way did I want to be an employee of these companies. In fact, I, along with many other people I'm sure, would have quit working for these apps entirely if we were forced to become employees. Even so, it was pretty obvious that these app-based gig companies were taking advantage of their drivers, and I was glad to see them on the defense for once.
Maybe the gig companies could have avoided Prop 22 if they initially paid their workers better
During the Pre-Prop 22 days, If Doordash, Uber, Postmates, etc. had paid their independent contractors better, they probably wouldn't have ran in to so many problems. Remember, I am saying probably. I mean, who knows, many California would have still went after them.
It makes me think though. If Dashers and other gig workers were paid decent earnings, there may not have been such negative press about them. This negativity is what put a big spot light on them, and before you knew it, everyone knew how they were exploiting their drivers. Of course, once the state of California became involved, there was no place for Doordash and the rest run.
The state of California pointed out facts that Doordash could not deny. The ABC test was eventually created. By answering a few questions from this test, a company would know if they could legally classify their workers as independent contractors or not. Doordash and similar companies would all fail this test. To be fair, in my opinion, it seemed like the ABC test was set up in a way perfectly so that app based gig companies like Doordash would fail.
Be it as it may, California was really on an agenda. They even compared gig drivers to a supermarket cashier stating that if would be silly to think that a cashier would only get paid while checking customers out, but as soon as she stopped that action, her pay would also stop. Of course they said this regarding the way Dashers and other gig drivers were paid.
Why would anybody be against Prop 22?
I have heard nonsense from some of the gig workers that are against Prop 22. Some of them have stated that they have been earning less money since Prop 22 passed. What? My question is how in the heck that is possible?
A gig worker only has to do what they have always done. Prop 22 guarantees that gig workers earn a guaranteed amount for their active time. That comes out roughly to about $20 per hour. So, if a gig worker only makes an average of $12 per hour for the week. Prop 22 sees to it that the worker will get paid $20 per hour. Remember, this is only Doordash pay and tips are in no way calculated with this.
Somebody may say, well maybe a particular gig worker used to make much more than that $20 per hour. Okay, so be it. Doordash, and the other gig companies do not cap earnings at $20 per hour. If an individual earns $30 per hour, then good for them. They will not receive any Prop 22 pay because they are earning more than the guarantee.
The goal of every gig worker should be to earn as much as they can. All Prop 22 does is guarantee a minimum. I ask again. How in the world can a gig worker claim that they are making less since Prop 22 was passed. Impossible!
The labor unions have a lot to do with all of this backlash against Prop 22
Those against Prop 22, including labor unions and their supporters, like to claim that the only reason this initiative was victorious was because of confusing language that Uber, Doordash, etc used. They try to claim that a lot of people voted "Yes" on 22 when in fact they meant to vote "No." Basically, they are trying to say that the people didn't understand what they were voting for.
They'll try to say things like "The voters did not know that they would be stripping workers of their rights" and other nonsense. These people really underestimate the minds of California citizens. People knew what they were voting for. Don't these people understand that the vast majority of gig workers do not want to be employees of Doordash, Uber, Lyft or any other app-based gig company.
They have this presumption that gig workers are wishing and hoping that they will one day become employees of the gig companies. They are truly trying to paint the wrong picture. Gig workers don't want to be employees of these companies. We enjoy these side hustles. We like working whenever we want.
If a gig worker really wanted to find an employee driving job, they can easily do so. If they would just email me, I could actually give them a list of companies that are hiring driver employees. It's not difficult to find. They could actually get hired and be an employee in a couple of days. This would be better than waiting and hoping that California will one day force companies such as Doordash to make all of their drivers employees.
What is strange is that these people against Prop 22 always seem to be standing side by side with the labor unions. You know, the guys that really want to get their foot in with these gig companies. If that were to happen, there would be a lot of money for them to gain. Trust me when I say that they only have their own interest in all of this. How many gig workers are there? Can you imagine all of those monthly dues?
Don't agree with California but glad they went after the gig companies
Even though it is clear that me and the vast majority of gig workers do not want to be employees of any of these gig companies, we all have to be glad that California made an attempt to go after them. In the long run, they failed, but by taking action, it forced the gig companies to create Prop 22.
With prop 22, as long as a Dasher in California stays active, the least they will earn is about $20 per hour. If calls are constantly coming in, which they usually are, and the Dasher is fast, they will generally earn more than this. It's nice to know that when things get slow that's the least amount we will earn. If it gets really slow we can just multi-app. As long as a gig worker stays active, they are always on the clock. It don't matter if it's Doordash, Uber, Grubhub or another company.
All in all, Prop 22 has been a major success for Doordash drivers and the gig economy as a whole. Dasher and other gig drivers are now paid what they are worth. Gig workers are now able to earn a respectable amount of money for the work that they do.
False reports may claim that gig workers are against Prop 22, but it is generally a lie. Ask gig workers from other states how they would like something like California's Prop 22, and I guarantee you that they would love it. Thanks you California for cornering the major gig companies in to creating Prop 22! It really helped all of us gig workers.
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