Peggy Sattler / ola.org
NDP MPP Peggy Sattler gathered with Ontario workers today to introduce her new bill. The bill protects workers who Sattler says are misclassified as independent contractors when they should be classified as employees.
“My bill would make it much simpler to understand who is an employee because it implements this ABC test, three questions, to determine whether someone is not an employee and it also clarifies the criteria that have to be met for someone to be a legitimate independent contractor,” says Sattler.
Workers like Uber Eats delivery drivers, truck drivers, health care aides, cleaners, etc. who are classified as independent contractors are not entitled to the same rights that employees are. This can include not receiving minimum wage, severance pay, WSIB coverage, and the right to refuse unsafe work.
Jennifer Scott is a gig worker who has delivered food on her bike for four years and is the president of Gig Workers United. She was at the conference to voice her concern for gig workers.
“We are misclassified workers and that means our job is not as good as it can be. Today we call the government to reclassify misclassified workers and gig workers. This is not the end of our fight,” says Scott.
Sattler says independent contractors are not bound by the Employment Standards Act and the protections available to people who are classified as employees.
“The problem is the way that legislation is currently set up, it’s very, very difficult for an individual worker to take legal action to be correctly identified under the current Employment Standards Act,” says Sattler. “That’s why the ABC test is so important because it really clarifies and simplifies the questions that an employer has to ask in order to say that the person they are hiring is an independent contractor.”
Sattler adds that the ABC test is already being used in the majority of the United States. Courts in California, the UK, Italy, Spain, and Denmark are also ruling that gig workers are employees.
Comments