Awaiting unemployment checks, gig workers weigh their options
New legislation gives them more choices
By noon on his first day at a new car dealership, Jon Donaldson had been laid off.
In mid-March, the company decided to let the entire sales department go, he said, a result of the closure of many businesses in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Mr. Donaldson, 42, of West Newton in Westmoreland County, wasn’t worried. He expected he would be able to get another job once the virus slowed and businesses got government approval to reopen. In the meantime, he would turn to his second form of income: driving for Uber.
But when he opened the app to start driving, he found there were very few rides to give. Even now, Mr. Donaldson said he hasn’t changed anything about his routine, but his income has still dropped.
“I would have to work almost 100 hours to make the money I’m used to making,” he said. “That’s certainly not achievable, at least not for me with young children.”
Mr. Donaldson, who has 18month-old twins, said his fiancee is still working as a security guard, but that there is tension in the house.
“My biggest concern was honestly how am I going to continue buying diapers? It was that real for me immediately when I got laid off,” he said. “I don’t think the people that are still working and still employed are capable of understanding what it’s like for people who have lost their income.”
To make up for that loss, Mr. Donaldson plans to file for unemployment compensation — an option that just opened up for Uber and Lyft drivers.
In its most recent stimulus package to provide economic relief for people affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic, the federal government included “gig economy workers,” or those people who drive for ridehail services, shop for groceries for customers through Instacart or deliver takeout orders through Grubhub or DoorDash. Until this point, gig economy workers were not eligible for unemployment compensation.
Rather than classifying them as employees, companies like Uber and Lyft consider these workers independent contractors. That comes with advantages for the workers, like the ability to make their own schedule, and drawbacks, like the lack of fringe benefits.
It also means that these companies do not contribute to the unemployment system on their behalf, according to Katherine Janockso, a labor and employment attorney for Downtown-based Tucker Arensberg, PC.
That has been a point of contention since the gig economy started, and the debate continues to play out in state courts from New York to California. In Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court is preparing an opinion on whether someone who began driving for Uber while waiting for unemployment compensation was still eligible to file, Ms. Janockso said.
The latest federal stimulus package means that the government is footing the bill for those who file for unemployment, rather than the tech companies that rely on gig workers.
But the legislation could change future conversations.
“If the federal government considers them eligible for this federal pandemic unemployment compensation, then perhaps in the future all freelancers, gig workers and the self-employed will be eligible for unemployment compensation on a regular basis,” Ms. Janockso said.
Ed Carter
Waiting to hear
Ed Carter, 49, of Robinson, turns to Uber and Lyft when income from his primary job in the entertainment industry is slow. Normally, that’s during the winter months. This year, it’s at least through the spring — maybe longer.
At the beginning of
March, Mr. Carter stopped driving at his wife’s request. A caregiver for several elderly people, she was worried about exposing herself and her clients.
“We’re doing what every American should be, staying indoors, self-quarantine,” Mr. Carter said. “This is a new experience for everybody. It is what it is. Spend time with family and make the best of it — that’s what everybody needs to do.”
Now, the couple are surviving on their savings and waiting to hear more about what they are eligible for from the federal stimulus package. Already Mr. Carter has gotten several emails from both Uber and Lyft about what the new legislation could mean and ways drivers can keep themselves safe.
But, in the Facebook groups for ride-hail drivers that Mr. Carter is a part of, he said there is a lot of confusion about when and how to file.
State officials could not be reached for comment in time for publication, but the state website for unemployment compensation says self-employed gig workers and those who were previously not eligible for unemployment will receive special instructions and should not file at this time.
“We’re all waiting to hear about how Pennsylvania is going to treat them,” Ms. Janockso, the Tucker Arensberg lawyer, said.
In the last two weeks of March, 830,000 Pennsylvanians found themselves without a job or income following the statewide shutdown of schools and all but “life-sustaining” businesses. By Thursday, the state had received nearly 1 million applications for jobless benefits.
Loree Stadler, a dog walker who is out of work because most of her clients are now home, says she checks every day to see when she can file for unemployment.
Though her husband is still working full time, Ms. Sadler, 47, of South Fayette, said she deferred two car payments already and will have to get used to watching what she buys. The income from her 10 clients went toward things like her son’s varsity football expenses and trips to Myrtle Beach, S.C., with her sister and family.
While she waits to file for unemployment compensation — and receive the money — she plans to try out another gig economy job: Instacart.
“I’m happy with anything,” she said. “You can pick and choose your shopping which is similar to my job . ... You make your own hours.”
Already, Kevin McIntosh, who has been an Instacart shopper for about two years and was involved in the Pittsburgh launch of the platform, said he has seen a lot of new people sign up to shop because they lost their job — from waitresses to people who build campers.
“I’m grateful for the fact that I still can make money and I can still work because my bills aren’t stopping,” said Mr. McIntosh, who lives in Fayette County but comes to the city to shop because there are more stores and more customers.
To keep himself safe, Mr.
McIntosh wipes down his iPhone, his steering wheel and his gear shift all the time. He even started carrying Clorox wipes in his pocket to wipe off his hands as he’s shopping.
Protests and fear
Mr. McIntosh plans to keep shopping as long as he is healthy, but other shoppers want more from the company before they keep going. Some conducted a nationwide protest on March 30, refusing to deliver groceries until the company provided hazard pay and better protections.
The protest was just one in a wave of movements demanding that companies provide gig workers with more protections as they continue to work amid fears of the coronavirus, including planned protests at Amazon warehouses and Whole Foods stores.
Amazon, Instacart, Uber and Lyft have said they will provide payment for workers who have COVID19 or who are instructed to self-isolate by a medical professional.
Mr. McIntosh, who is not associated with the national Instacart group, chose not to protest — partly because as an independent contractor he feels that continuing to work is his decision. And he didn’t want to leave customers without any groceries.
He usually makes five to seven trips a day, meaning he can serve twice that many people if he doubles up on orders. The customers have been extremely grateful, he said, often telling him they were scared to go out themselves.
Though the stores are starting to get stocked up again, Mr. McIntosh said customers are understanding when he can’t deliver an item on their list.
As he shops, he will send them messages, asking things like if they would be OK with Tyson’s breaded chicken strips because the store was out of fresh meat. And if he spots toilet paper or paper towels, he always checks to see if they need those.
“The way this is spreading, the more people we can keep out of the store the better,” Mr. McIntosh said. “We went from being a luxury to a necessity right now.”
“We’re doing what every American should be, staying indoors, selfquarantine. This is a new experience for everybody. It is what it is. Spend time with family and make the best of it — that’s what everybody needs to do.”