The big news I have to share with you this week is that on November 16 Minister of Labour Harry Bains and I held a press conference to announce that we will be introducing legislation to establish employment standards for ride hail and food delivery drivers. After many round table discussions with drivers around the province we were able to identify the critical problems they want us to address as soon as possible. These include a minimum wage that reimburses them for work related expenses, tip protection, pay and trip destination transparency, a fair process for suspensions and terminations, and coverage by workers compensation.
These are the priorities identified by the drivers themselves and we think we can implement them pretty quickly. But it is only a first step. The ability to log on to multiple apps at the same time for a period of time that works for them was also identified as a priority. This kind of employment was made possible by technology that wasn’t anticipated when regulated employment standards were first contemplated. It will take more time, discussion, and data to figure out how to extend other basic rights to these workers. But gig work is a growing part of our economy so it is important that we continue to find ways to modernize the rules that protect workers at their workplace even if the workplace is virtual.