With the gig economy booming, a new bill introduced by three Democratic lawmakers seeks to promote transparency and accountability for app-based workers. The Empowering App-Based Workers Act would put guardrails on digital labor platforms — including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Amazon — to ensure that automated decisions do not lead to discrimination and price-gouging. It also would provide transparency to workers on how their data is used.
U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Donald Norcross (N.J.), and Ilhan Omar (Minn.) introduced the legislation Thursday and said the bill would achieve the following:
- Require detailed weekly pay statements and itemized receipts for workers.
- Require disclosure of electronic monitoring systems and how those are used to make automated decisions regarding work assignments.
- Ensure that ride-hail drivers receive at least 75 percent of the total amount paid by a consumer for each transaction.
- Prohibit app-based platforms from violating equal pay for equal work by offering or paying different amounts to workers performing substantially similar or comparable work.
“App-based workers work long hours, often with no consistency or predictability of how much they will make,” Jayapal said. “They are at the whim of algorithms that make automated decisions about who gets to work, and where, and when. Workers and consumers deserve a better system, where workers are protected, employment laws are followed, and where consumers have a transparent price.”
In 2024, Uber and Lyft both regularly paid drivers wages less than minimum wage, while at the same time increasing costs paid by consumers. These corporations’ ‘take rates,’ or the percentage of a ride-fare that they keep, is often around 40 percent, but can be as high as 70% on individual rides, according to the lawmakers.
“App-based corporations have hidden behind AI algorithms and predatory take rates while drivers’ pay shrinks and executive profits soar,” Omar said. ”The Empowering App-Based Workers Act will pull back the curtain on how these companies use data, set wages, and make decisions that shape people’s livelihoods. Gig workers should be part of a transparent system that values their labor.”
“The Empowering App-Based Workers Act is a long-overdue step toward fairness and transparency for the millions of rideshare drivers and delivery app workers who keep our economy running,” Norcross added. ”By guaranteeing transparent payment information and higher wages, these workers will finally receive a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work. App-based workers deserve a good-paying job where they are treated with dignity, compensated fairly, and protected from exploitation.”
The bill — which was referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce — also is sponsored by seven other congressional Democrats: Dan Goldman (N.Y.), Summer Lee (Pa.), LaMonica McIver (N.J.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Mark Takano (Calif.), and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.).
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