California judge nixes gig worker ballot measure

Exemption from law ‘unconstitutional’

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 22, 2020 App-based drivers from Uber and Lyft protest in a caravan in front of City Hall in Los Angeles where elected leaders hold a conference urging voters to reject on the November 3 election, Proposition 22, that would classify app-based drivers as independent contractors and not employees or agents. - A California judge has ruled unconstitutional a 2020 referendum passed by the state's voters that lets "gig workers" be treated as contractors, reports said August 20, 2021. Labor legislation known as Proposition 22 -- heavily backed by Uber, Lyft and other app-based, on-demand services -- effectively overturned a California law requiring them to reclassify their drivers and provide employee benefits. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

A California judge on Friday ruled that a 2020 ballot measure that exempted ride-share and food delivery drivers from a State labour law is unconstitutional as it infringed on the legislature’s power to set standards at the workplace.

‘Limits the power’

Proposition 22 is unconstitutional as “it limits the power of a future Legislature to define app-based drivers as workers subject to workers’ compensation law”, which makes the entire ballot measure “unenforceable”, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch wrote in the ruling.

Gig economy companies including Uber, Lyft, Doordash and Instacart were pushing to keep drivers’ independent contractor status, albeit with additional benefits.

The ballot measure was meant to cement app-based food delivery and ride-hail drivers’ status as independent contractors, not employees.