NEW YORK (Reuters) – A COVID-assistance coverage at DoorDash Inc is irritating some couriers who advised Reuters the food-delivery firm sidelined them for so long as a month whereas infections brought on by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus flared, costing them a lot wanted earnings.
DoorDash rolled out its COVID-19 Financial Assistance Program in March 2020, providing a driver who checks optimistic for COVID, or whose housemate checks optimistic, a one-time cost equal to their common earnings over the earlier two weeks.
“Upon submitting a declare for health-related COVID-19 monetary help, your Dasher account shall be suspended to shield the DoorDash group,” DoorDash mentioned in a March 12, 2020 electronic mail to its drivers saying this system.
But six DoorDash couriers advised Reuters that during the latest Omicron surge, DoorDash delayed making the help funds and suspended drivers’ DoorDash accounts for extended durations, exacerbating the monetary pressure on gig employees who ship meals for a dwelling.
When Cincinnati-based Doordash driver Josh Murphy notified the corporate about his roommate’s optimistic COVID-19 check consequence on Dec. 21, DoorDash instantly deactivated Murphy’s account for over three weeks – effectively past his 10-day quarantine interval.
Murphy mentioned he missed work for 17 days that he would usually be out delivering. He did ultimately obtain a verify for $622 – however he estimates the extended account deactivation amounted to a $1,000 web loss, even after the cost.
“I remorse asking for the help, despite the fact that I wanted it to pay hire,” Murphy mentioned.
A spokesperson for San Francisco-based DoorDash mentioned normally medically-cleared drivers, often called Dashers, are in a position to get back on-line inside 24 hours.
“When a Dasher submits a qualifying claim, our team works quickly to process their two weeks’ of earning replacement and suspend their Dasher account to protect the DoorDash community,” she mentioned.
DoorDash has devoted particular crew members to course of requests for monetary help and reactivations after Dashers are medically cleared. The firm has added extra crew members to that group because the begin of the pandemic, she famous, including that vital delays should not widespread.
DoorDash declined to specify the variety of couriers who’ve requested monetary help because the begin of the pandemic. DoorDash counted almost 3 million individuals who supplied companies, or “Dashed,” during the third quarter, incomes over $2.8 billion for drivers. The firm reviews fourth-quarter outcomes on Feb. 16.
‘MY ONLY SOURCE OF INCOME’
Getting monetary help or paid sick depart for a COVID-related absence is particularly arduous for gig employees who lack worker advantages.
Uber Technologies discontinued its COVID monetary help coverage for drivers in August of 2021. Lyft, Grubhub, and Instacart nonetheless present COVID sick pay and, like DoorDash, briefly droop employees’ accounts after they request monetary help, in accordance to firm spokespeople.
“Nobody forces (gig economic system corporations) to help the employees, as a result of we’re not workers,” mentioned Gustavo Ajche, a DoorDash courier in New York City and member of labor group Los Deliveristas Unidos.
App-based supply corporations deal with couriers as unbiased contractors. DoorDash agreed in November to pay greater than $5 million to settle an investigation by San Francisco into alleged labor legislation violations. The metropolis alleged DoorDash was violating its healthcare profit and paid sick depart legal guidelines by misclassifying employees as unbiased contractors, somewhat than workers.
Complaints amongst DoorDash couriers about account suspensions and delays elevated in late 2021 with the rise of Omicron, in accordance to social media posts.
Chris Lewis, of Long Beach, California, requested COVID monetary help on Jan. 4. Emails seen by Reuters present he didn’t obtain a response from the corporate asking him to confirm his optimistic COVID check till Jan 18.
Lewis, who has already recovered from COVID, lastly came upon he’s eligible for monetary help on Jan. 28.
Allie, a DoorDash driver within the Minneapolis suburbs, submitted a request to the corporate for COVID monetary help when she examined optimistic simply earlier than Christmas. Her DoorDash account has been suspended for over 4 weeks, and she or he has but to obtain any sick pay, which she estimates quantities to $2,000 in misplaced earnings.
“I don’t want to proceed with the monetary help,” she wrote in an electronic mail to DoorDash’s help crew on Jan. 14, “as I’m shedding extra money by not dashing and that is my solely supply of earnings.”
(Reporting by Danielle Kaye; Editing by Vanessa O’Connell and Bill Berkrot)
