Editorial: Prop. 22 a Road Map for Bypassing Legislature on Labor Law

Thursday, November 5, 2020 | 1

The Los Angeles Times editorial board on Thursday said the success of Proposition 22 creates a road map that companies can follow to bypass the California Legislature and write employment rules and laws through ballot initiatives.

Nearly 60% of California residents voted in favor of Prop. 22 on Tuesday. More than 6.7 million people — 58.4% of the vote — supported the initiative that classifies as independent contractors app-based drivers for companies such as Uber, Lyft and Postmates. As of Thursday morning, the Associated Press was reporting 4.8 million people voted against the initiative.

The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday said California lawmakers had the opportunity when negotiating Assembly Bill 5 to cut a deal with tech companies to exempt them from the new law that presumes workers are employees.

“Instead of creating a third category of protections for gig workers, which would have been the far-sighted thing to do, labor-friendly Democrats in the Legislature spurned overtures from Uber et al. and, in essence, required those workers to be treated as employees eligible for minimum wage, overtime pay, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation and other state-mandated protection,” the Times editorial board wrote.

The newspaper said the protections offered by Prop. 22 are better than nothing. The initiative, for example, will require tech companies to provide insurance for occupational injuries, including up to two years of temporary disability benefits and up to $1 million in medical treatment. The program doesn’t have to provide permanent disability benefits that are available in the work comp system. And there is no cap on medical benefits in comp.

The Times said gig drivers deserved a better deal that assures them the same level of protection provided under state wage laws and under the state comp system. But it’s probably too late for the Legislature to provide that now that voters approved Prop. 22.

“Just as ominously, the app companies have provided a template for future efforts, in California and elsewhere, to use the ballot box to reclassify employees as contractors and cut their benefits,” the editorial board opined. “Before we see the next Proposition 22, lawmakers should do the work they could have done last year and create a new category in state employment law for gig workers that provides the protections that those who make a living at these jobs need without sacrificing the flexibility and choice that make these jobs attractive in the first place.”