She pays $600 a month in rent for her motor home and considers herself relatively fortunate, but feels her treatment has been unfair given that driving during these uncertain times could put her health at risk. News provided by The Associated Press. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national, and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations, and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. (Reporting by Tina Bellon in New York Editing by Nick Zieminski), ((Tina.Bellon@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 573 5029; Reuters Messaging: tina.bellon.thomsonreuters@reuters.net; Twitter @TinaBellon)). In California, with unemployment benefits now expanded to ride-hailing drivers, the state will have to try to make Uber and Lyft pay for benefits their drivers receive, Dubal said. Kristie Contine, a full-time Lyft driver in San Diego, applied for unemployment benefits online on March 25. Workers receive an additional $600 per week for up to four months. She said the company wouldn't provide a … By clicking “I agree” below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. I have read through all of the state’s unemploy m ent benefits. Uber said it had reached out to the remaining states to help them streamline the application process. Como eventually resorted to contacting Uber's customer service department over Twitter, but has yet to resolve the phone number issue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. This content is currently not available in your region. "It is not a friendly system when you become unemployed and then you're faced with housing insecurity, food insecurity," said Cherri Murphy, a Lyft driver and theology student who applied for unemployment at the end of March. With more mail-in ballots, officials urge patience on election night, Americans and the right to vote: Why it's not easy for everyone, Why some mail-in ballots are rejected and how to make sure your vote counts. See our, Read a limited number of articles each month, You consent to the use of cookies and tracking by us and third parties to provide you with personalized ads, Unlimited access to washingtonpost.com on any device, Unlimited access to all Washington Post apps, No on-site advertising or third-party ad tracking. By clicking “I agree” below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. "Many of us have filed over a month ago and have no members who've received benefits.". Uber on Tuesday said that to date 25 states have created a process for independent contractors to apply, including large states such as New York, Texas and Michigan. Uber said it would continue to update the website as more information becomes available, with several U.S. states still not having set up a system for gig worker unemployment relief. It also features a question-and-answer section on legal questions surrounding U.S. coronavirus assistance. © 2020, Nasdaq, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Without their help, she said, "I would be lost, overwhelmed and inundated. Several California drivers and workers' rights group organizing them told CBS MoneyWatch that Uber and Lyft were refusing to provide essential wage information to that state's labor department. Health secretary denies report he wants to oust FDA head, New Jersey reports over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for 5th straight day. Murphy has received financial assistance from friends, allowing her to pay for food and rent. In California and New York, the delay in collecting unemployment benefits has intensified the debate over whether app drivers should be classified under labor law as employees or as independent small business owners. When the California application asked for her quarterly earnings, she called the company to get the information, but a customer service representative refused to provide it, she said. "Part of your brain says, 'Go to work,' but another part of your brain says, 'I want to live.'". But many Uber drivers and other gig workers have hit a bureaucratic wall in their efforts to apply for the coronavirus jobless benefits. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. Deaths: Johns Hopkins, TradeTalks: Opportunities in the Market for Investors and Traders, Tesla analysts hope for Musk sign on 2020 delivery goal during third-quarter call, EARNINGS-Tesla cracks revenue record and beats estimates, shares take off, Oil prices drop for 4th day as COVID-19 second wave worries intensify, Third Quarter and September 2020 Review and Outlook, var dom1 = document.querySelector('#form1783 #field1');var field1 = new LiveValidation(dom1, {validMessage: "", onlyOnBlur: false, wait: 300});field1.add(Validate.Presence, {failureMessage:"This field is required"});field1.add(Validate.Format, {pattern: /^([^@\s]+)@((?:[-a-z0-9]+\. You also agree to our Terms of Service. "Uber has failed to provide the New York State Department of Labor with the wage data necessary to process driver claims quickly, heartlessly delaying payouts that drivers need to feed our families in a time of crisis," the drivers wrote. Uber drivers and other gig economy workers were promised unemployment benefits. "We're working with states across the country to help them get the data they need to process Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications quickly. Uber's CEO welcomed a $2 trillion stimulus bill that would finally let US drivers claim unemployment insurance Isobel Asher Hamilton 2020-03-26T11:58:23Z Uber Technologies Inc on Tuesday launched a website to help its ride-hail and delivery drivers navigate the intricate U.S. unemployment system, with many gig workers still waiting to receive jobless pay provided under a U.S. coronavirus response bill. 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"It's a bad place to be right now — you don't know what to do," she told CBS MoneyWatch. That means non-working drivers, many of whom have been out of work for a month already, will have to wait longer to see any money. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. State agencies were caught unprepared handling a class of workers who are totally new to the U.S. unemployment system at a time when a record 22 million Americans are seeking unemployment benefits, overwhelming labor departments and causing large backlogs. About 10 days later, the notice came — only to deliver bad news. We are actively reaching out to all states to try and work with them to get this support to our drivers and delivery people.

Be in the know. Although the CARES Act was passed in late March, many states haven't yet to set up new systems to deal with unemployment benefits for freelancers. What's the status of a second $1,200 stimulus check? Spending taxpayer funds toward a bailout that should rightly be paid for by the companies would set a bad precedent and disadvantage "law-abiding employers" who have paid into the system, a group of 27 law and employment experts wrote in an open letter to states. It may be a long wait. Murphy, 52, lives in Oakland and said she gave up driving one day when she drove for 10 hours and made only $90, which she put towards her car payment and gas. Lyft and Uber maintain the law doesn't apply to them and are funding a fall ballot initiative to permanently exempt gig workers.