WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, on Thursday joined U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) in introducing the Empowering App-Based Workers Act, new legislation to improve transparency on how app companies operate and help boost wages for rideshare drivers and delivery app workers.

 

“App-based companies purposely keep gig workers in the dark so they can grossly underpay them while also price gouging consumers,” said Murphy. “Our bill forces these companies to be transparent with workers about what they will be paid and establishes wage minimums so they can’t exploit loopholes to mislead and steal from their workers.”

 

“Every day rideshare drivers and delivery app workers work long hours and travel many miles to make a living, often without knowing how much money they’ll make. Our bill would shed some light on how apps determine work assignments and pay, ensuring workers are treated and paid fairly,” said Schatz.

 

Millions of workers across multiple industries, report to work by turning on an app. These platforms collect data from both workers and consumers to shape working conditions, evaluate workers, and make work-related decisions, including decisions on how much to pay a worker, which workers get which assignments, and whether, when, or for how long a worker will be suspended or ‘deactivated.’ All this is done with systems that are not transparent to workers, consumers, or regulators, creating information imbalances that mask wage theft, discrimination, and price-gouging.

 

The Empowering App-Based Workers Act would create a level playing field for workers managed by digital labor platforms by:

  • Requiring disclosure of electronic monitoring and automated decision systems uses, including how they are used to determine pay and other work decisions;
  • Providing itemized receipts to workers and consumers after every work assignment;
  • Providing workers receive weekly pay statements with relevant information on their compensation;
  • Ensuring rideshare workers receive at least 75 percent of the amount paid by consumers; and
  • Stopping platforms from using interfaces that contain unfair or deceptive information on compensation.

 

The bill is supported by the ACE Collaborative of New Virginia Majority, Action Center on Race and Economy, AFL-CIO, Athena, Center for Law and Social Policy, Color Of Change, Colorado Independent Drivers United, Connecticut Drivers United, Coworker, Data & Society, Drivers Union Washington/Teamsters Local 117, Economic Policy Institute, Fair Work Center, Groundwork Collaborative, Hawai‘i Workers Center, Los Deliveristas Unidos, Minnesota Uber/Lyft Drivers Association, Make the Road New Jersey, National Women’s Law Center, National Employment Law Project (NELP), New York Taxi Workers Alliance, New School Center for NYC Public Affairs, NLAN/GLOW, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Open Markets Institute, Portland Drivers United, Rideshare Drivers United, PowerSwitch Action, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Tech Equity Collaborative, Tennessee Drivers Union, The People's Lobby, Towards Justice, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, and Working Washington.

 

Full text of the bill is available HERE.