COVID-19 and workers in the gig economy

Pandemic highlights need to update labour policies to better reflect the realities of many Canadians, Nura Jabagi says.

Wednesday, the federal government tabled its $1 billion COVID-19 response plan. Bracing for “significant economic impacts,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated: “to every worker and business, in every province and territory, we have your back and we will get through this together.” As a researcher focused on the gig economy, I believe that Trudeau should choose his words more carefully. With predictions that 45 per cent of Canadians will be self-employed this year, the labour-related segment of the government’s response plan is out of touch with the reality of many Canadians.

Trudeau announced two measures to help workers. The first is the waiving of the mandatory one-week waiting period on Employment Insurance (EI) claims to allow quarantined, and self-isolated, individuals to receive pay in the first week of their claim. The second is the extension of the work-sharing program to provide compensation to employers struggling to support employee incomes for up to 76 weeks.

Unfortunately, many, if not most, gig workers do not have access to federal benefits, so reducing the wait time for EI claims is of no value to them. Similarly, Canada’s Work-sharing Program is “designed to help employers and employees avoid layoffs when there is a temporary reduction in the normal level of business activity that is beyond the control of the employer.” Though COVID-19 is certainly beyond employers’ control, the Work-sharing Program is irrelevant to gig workers who are classified as independent contractors. Given the legal battles launched by gig-economy heavyweights like Uber to fight the designation of independent contractors as employees, gig organizations are unlikely to be

They can’t take a day off work, let alone 14 days.

interested in the Work-sharing Program, considering the precedent this may set.

In short, the government’s plan leaves a significant portion of Canada’s most vulnerable population in the lurch. Federal Labour Minister Filomena Tassi comment that she has “not been overwhelmed with people that are saying, ‘We don’t want to go to work and we feel compelled to go to work” underscores the government’s lack of understanding of many gig workers’ situations. The vast majority of gig-economy platforms focus on low- to medium-skilled work, and gig workers on these platforms have little bargaining power as compared to workers performing highskill work on platforms like Upwork. Many lowskilled gig workers put in more than 40 hours a week and/or are dependent on the platform as their sole income source, while others work more than one job. They can’t take a day off work, let alone 14 days, should they fall ill.

Though Uber and Lyft have announced that they will begin offering drivers up to 14 days of paid sick leave if they contract COVID-19, or are quarantined, it’s unclear how these companies will assess claims and determine drivers’ compensations. Given the unsustainable economics of the ride-hailing industry, whether (and to what extent) Uber and Lyft keep their promises remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the fact that Uber has offered sick leave is interesting insofar as the gesture suggests that drivers are indeed part of its core business (something the company has long argued against).

The Canadian government should consider this pandemic a wake-up call. Labour policies must be updated for the gig economy and to protect vulnerable workers. Fortunately, the government may find that reinventing the wheel is unnecessary, specifically for lowskilled gig workers. Most gig-economy platforms that mediate low-skilled, on-demand services (e.g. Uber) are managed by algorithms. Although algorithmic management is necessary to ensure efficiency, algorithms exert high levels of control on workers with platforms designed to psychologically manipulate workers into working more hours. Such strategies reaffirm that gig workers are central to these companies’ businesses and that they are in reality de facto employees who should be eligible for EI and other government benefits.