This Week: Uber & Lyft’s Sick Leave Offers, & More Coronavirus Stories

This week in rideshare news. Lots of stories about the Covid-19 crisis: Uber & Lyft are challenged over their sick leave offer, and Uber may suspend the accounts of sick riders and drivers. How much should you tip the delivery person, wait staff or Uber driver at this time? There’s also some Amazon delivery shortage.

But on another note, if they’re offering sick leave, doesn’t matter to imply that we’re employees now?

We have lots to talk about, but I promise you it will be upbeat the whole time. It’s This Week in Write Your News. So I’m reading this article and it starts off with Uber is adding new precautions as the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, including suspending accounts of drivers and riders who have the illness. Duh. Hello. How do you even know if I have the virus anyway? HIPAA protects patients from their medical histories being shared. So if Uber knows that I have the virus, it’s because I told them, okay? And the last thing I want to do is log on and drive because I’m now fighting for my life. So at best, this is not a news topic. Let’s move on to the next one. That was an entire waste of both of our time.

So lawsuits are being filed against rideshare giants, Uber and Lyft, alleging that the companies are endangering the public in California during the coronavirus outbreak by not following state law, which requires employees to receive paid sick leave.

So both companies have announced this sick leave to compensate for drivers for up to two weeks if they have been quarantined or diagnosed with COVID-19. Now Shannon Liss- Riordan, we know her. She’s the lawyer representing the drivers seeking this class extra suit for both suits and she’s done for plenty. Says that what they’re doing is short of California law. She had this to say: she said, “California law mandates paid sick leave and you don’t need to be diagnosed with coronavirus to be eligible for it. Testing for the virus is hard to get now, so few drivers are even eligible for whatever compensation Uber and Lyft are talking about, which hasn’t even been well defined. The CDC is recommending that anyone who is feeling sick to stay home and not go to work, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with the coronavirus or not.”

So both Uber and Lyft have fought tooth. And now as you guys know, to classify drivers as independent contractors, denying us of employee benefits. And even the [inaudible 00:02:26] five couldn’t really get them to act rightly. It’s still kind of doing the same thing. But I’m thinking that the coronavirus is finally forcing gig economy to reform. And I’ve read so many posts regarding this topic. So many people that are concerned about contracting the virus from picking up passengers and the what ifs; if they were to get the virus, and what would happen to their lives. So I do think this sick leave is something in the right direction. I do feel like, hey, that’s not the only thing that can endanger somebody, the flu and other things could as well. But on another note, if they’re offering sick leave, doesn’t that imply that we’re employees now? Isn’t that like a mind … You know what? Anyway, we’re going to follow the story and we’ll notify you on updates. And there’ll be links to all of this in the description.

So how much should you tip the delivery person or waitstaff or Uber driver during the coronavirus pandemic? Well The Moneyist is suggesting to add an additional 5% to your tips. So if you normally tip 20%, it would be 25% in these corona times. It’s very appropriate, because that person is literally risking their life to bring you your favorite spaghetti or to take you to work, right? Gig economy workers, y’all are showing up, and we don’t have the luxury to stay at home or to work from home. So if a gig economy person is out there delivering, picking folks up, they are making sure that home is being taken care of in a major way.

I wanted to share this article with you guys, because sometimes this could be a thankless gig. Get it. Anyway, I just wanted to share with you that at least minds are changing about this particular industry and people are aware of the good that you are doing and that when you show up that you made a choice to show up for them, and you didn’t have to. And so, I have a link to that and I’m hoping that a lot of people do watch, not watch, but a lot of people do read MarketWatch. And my hopes is that there’s more conversations like this. But I thought it was funny.

So if you drive for Amazon Flex, now’s the time to get on the platform; they need you. Better yet, if you’re looking to make the switch, Amazon is hiring. I saw a bunch of jobs on Indeed.com. So if you’re interested, please go over there right away; we need you. And I think it’s necessary, I do. Because Amazon has not done very well. The coronavirus has kicked Amazon’s butt. And I’ll tell you why.

So earlier this week I ordered groceries and they came 48 hours later; usually 24, but I was happy. But when I tried to reorder groceries yesterday, there were no delivery times available. And you went through that whole thing, ordering and nothing came up. Anyway, long story short, I look around and I see in other places, New York, Miami, there’s same thing. Delivery times are either not available or later on in the week. My problem, there’s no mention of when they’ll return and I mean I’m not happy about that. I paid for this service so why not let me know the why. It makes no sense. I ordered some non food items and those things won’t be delivered until Tuesday. Which I mean I could have ordered on Walmart or Target and got them same day or the next day or so.

Which leads me to this notion. Amazon has reigned supreme in the area of two day deliveries but Walmart and Target have been trying to get their spot, and I think that they actually have a chance. If you go to either website, you can get food and or non food items very quickly. That’s unheard of across the board right now. I think they might have my business until Amazon sorts this out. So if you’re looking to buy things and get things, I would check those websites out too. My list, I go Amazon, eBay. But now it’s Walmart, Target, Amazon, eBay. With that being said, good luck Amazon, but I’m out.

So this is a cute one. I found this on a forum. It reads, “Oops, David left this in your car. I lost my mind in your car. You’re beautiful. Come back to the Bobby Hotel where we can talk more. I would love to see more of your smile. Call them directly. After you meet, you can request a return fee from the help menu in the app.” Okay, ladies and gents, if you received this from someone, whatever you’re into on your app, and this is real, this is actually real. How would you respond? I’ll leave it up to you. It’s cute. I lost my mind in your car. It’s only cute if he was cute. Now if he was not, or it was just a creepy thing, I’d be like, “Yeah, you gone to have to go without your mind because I’m not going back,” especially not going to no hotel. Not to say that I wouldn’t even go if he … Whatever. I think I’d be flattered.

Have you ever had an encounter with someone that left something in your car? You know he does this all the time, right? This is just way too smooth. This is way too smooth. Right guys? Speak on it. Anyway. Let me know your thoughts. If you’re not subscribed, please subscribe right now. And if you’re not following me on my channel, Drive Girl Drive, I’ve been hitting some topics on the coroner virus and they’re a little bit more controversial.

I appreciate you guys. We’re here every single Saturday at 6:00 AM. It’ll be here waiting for you when you get up, because you don’t have to get up at 6:00. But with that being said, use caution this weekend. Wash your hands, cover your mouths, your noses, your eyes. Trust your gut and make lots of money. Bye. [silence 00:09:26]