Seattle lawmakers passed legislation Tuesday that aims to provide more job security to app-based workers who deliver food, shop for groceries, or perform many other on-demand jobs.
The bill, CB 120580, changes how companies such as Instacart, DoorDash, and Rover can deactivate their gig workers and requires a 14-day notice of deactivation, among other requirements.
“This effort builds reliability and stability for this growing workforce,” said councilmember Lisa Herbold, who sponsored the bill with councilmember Andrew Lewis.
Workers on the platforms say they have been deactivated for rejecting too many orders, being unavailable during certain days or times, or unknown reasons. The ordinance, which passed on a 6-2 vote, requires network companies to base deactivations on “reasonable” policies and provide app-based workers notice, records, and human review of all deactivations.
“App-based workers are an essential part of our city’s economy and deserve protections against sudden deactivations that can significantly threaten their ability to make a livelihood,” Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a statement.
App-based companies have testified that in some cases, they need to move quickly to deactivate a contractor who has engaged in offensive or dangerous behavior while working.
A spokesperson from Instacart, speaking at the council meeting Tuesday, said the 14-day notice period is “recklessly long” and said immediate action is sometimes necessary to “protect the community.”
The ordinance allows companies to immediately deactivate workers without an investigation in the case of “egregious misconduct,” which includes harassment and robbery.
“We’re not banning deactivations,” Herbold said. “We’re simply requiring that workers be allowed to challenge an unjust deactivation.”
Some voiced concern about potential privacy implications of the bill since companies would provide information about complaints. The bill does allow companies to anonymize customer information.
“This measure would result in unsafe working conditions for thousands of customers and employees across the city,” Ashley Sutton, executive director for Washington & Northwest at innovation advocacy group TechNet, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the Council has used their valuable time and energy to single out these workers and put their privacy at risk.”
The deactivation law, which will be enforced starting Jan. 1, 2025, is the latest step in a series of “Pay Up” legislation aimed at giving app-workers greater protections, spearheaded by councilmembers Herbold and Lewis. In March, the council approved a law mandating gig workers be awarded one day of paid leave for every 30 days worked. And in 2022, the council passed legislation guaranteeing delivery drivers a minimum wage.
“Seattle workers have been leading the nation in raising labor standards for workers in the gig economy, and today is another huge step forward,” Danielle Alvarado, executive director of worker advocacy group Working Washington, said in a statement.
Gig-workers, technically classified as independent contractors instead of employees, are exempt from many traditional labor laws. But councilmembers supporting the new bill argue that the explosion of app-based service jobs over the last decade necessitates a new category of legal protections for workers.
Ride-hailing companies such as Lyft and Uber are exempt from this legislation; drivers on those platforms have separate protections under state law.
Editor’s note: Story updated with comment from TechNet.
