On Wednesday March 15, the Seattle City Council Committee on Housing and Finance will have a hearing on Council Bill 120514. This proposed ordinance will make Seattle’s Paid Sick and Safe Time for App-based contractors permanent. As you may recall, during the pandemic the City of Seattle created this Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) system for App-based contractors as part of their emergency response to COVID-19. However, in October Mayor Bruce Harrell lifted the COVID-19 related Emergency Orders, resulting in this PSST program being due to expire on April 30, 2023.

Drive Forward, along with other driver organizations, and most of the app companies are fully supportive of making PSST in the City of Seattle permanent. However, we would like the City Council to make a few minor changes to the system to make it more flexible and simpler for you to use.

Please send an email to the Seattle City Council to express your support for making PSST permanent with these minor changes.

Preserving flexibility in your work has always been a main mission of Drive Forward. In furthering that mission Drive Forward is asking the City Council to change their system to match the new more flexible Washington State Paid Sick Time system for all rideshare drivers. This state system allows rideshare drivers to accrue sick time at a rate of one hour of sick time per 40 hours worked. It also allows rideshare drivers to use sick time in increments of one hour with a 4-hour minimum. This state system is more flexible than the proposed City of Seattle system that would accrue and allow redemption of sick time in full days only.

For example, an App-Based Delivery Contractor under the state system would only have to take four hours of paid sick time to go to a doctor’s appointment, so they would be able to work either before or after the appointment. Under the system Seattle City Council is proposing an App-Based Delivery Contractors would have to take a whole day for that same doctor’s appointment and not work at all that day.

Plus, those of our members that work both rideshare and delivery, you will have to keep track of two different systems if the city passes its PSST system in its current form. This really is an unnecessary burden for those members. It is always better to have simplicity and uniformity in government regulations. That is all we are asking for here.

If you agree, please take a moment to send an email to the Seattle City Council.

Thank them for considering making Paid Sick and Safe Time a permanent benefit for App-based contractors like yourself and to make this minor change to the proposed ordinance so you can preserve your flexibility and create simplicity and uniformity in regulations.

We have made sending the email easy, just click this link and add your information, we have already done the rest of the work. It is important that elected leaders hear from you and understand what you want them to do on your behalf.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to send a letter to the Seattle City Council.