© 2022 American Payroll Institute, Inc. Washington Establishes Pay Requirements For Ride-hailing Company Drivers Effective December 31, 2022, transportation network companies (TNCs e.g., Uber, Lyft) also sometimes referred to as ride-hailing companies in Washington will be required to ensure drivers are paid at least a minimum amount of compensation. Effective January 1, 2023, TNCs will also be required to provide itemized pay statements and notices to drivers, and certain wage deductions will be prohibited [H.B. 2076, L. 2022]. Minimum wage Effective December 31, 2022, a TNC must ensure a driver is paid a minimum wage based on a city’s population. In large cities with populations of more than 600,000, on a per trip basis, the driver must be paid the greater of: (1) $0.59 per passenger platform minute for all passenger platform time for that trip, and $1.38 per passenger platform mile for all passenger platform miles driven on that trip or (2) a minimum of $5.17 per dispatched trip. In small cities with populations of 600,000 or less, on a per trip basis, the driver must be paid the greater of (1) $0.34 per passenger platform minute and $1.17 per passenger platform mile or (2) a minimum of $3.00 per dispatched trip. For trips starting in small cities and ending in large cities: the compensation standard for large cities applies for passenger platform time spent within the large city and for passenger platform miles driven in the large city on that trip. The small city compensation standard applies for passenger platform time spent outside the large city and passenger platform miles driven outside the large city on that trip. The law defines a dispatched trip to be transportation by a driver for a passenger engaged via a TNC’s application dispatch system. Passenger platform time is the period of time when the driver is transporting one or more passengers on a trip. Passenger platform miles are all miles driven during passenger platform time as recorded in a TNC’s driver platform. For shared rides, the per trip minimum will apply only to the entirety of the shared ride, and not on the basis of an individual passenger’s trip within the shared ride. A shared ride is a dispatched trip in which the trip fare is split among multiple passengers. The rates will be adjusted annually based on the rate of increase of the state minimum wage. The Washington Department of Labor and Industries (DLI) will announce adjusted rates by September 30, to go into effect on January 1 of the following year. Tips, fees Tips. A TNC will be required to remit all tips to drivers. Tips paid to a driver will be considered to be in addition to, and may not count towards, the driver’s minimum required compensation. Fees. Amounts charged to a passenger and remitted to the driver for tolls, fees, or surcharges incurred during a trip must not be included in calculating compensation for purposes of meeting the compensation standard. Notice Effective January 1, 2023, a TNC must provide each driver with a written notice of rights in a form and manner sufficient to inform drivers of their rights, including by providing information on the driver’s right to: (1) the applicable per minute rate and per mile rate or per trip rate (i.e., the applicable compensation standard) (2) be protected from retaliation for exercising in good faith the rights protected and (3) seek legal action or file a complaint with the DLI for violations of minimum compensation standards and other requirements under the new law. The TNC must provide the notice of rights in an electronic format that is readily accessible to the driver. The notice of rights must be made available to the driver via smartphone application or online web portal, in English and the five most common foreign languages spoken in Washington. Pay statements Also effective January 1, 2023, on a weekly basis, TNCs must provide written notice to drivers containing the following information for trips, or a portion of a trip, that occurred in the prior week: (1) the driver’s total passenger platform time (2) total mileage driven by the driver during passenger platform time (3) the driver’s total tip compensation (4) the driver’s gross payment, itemized by: (a) rate per minute (b) rate per mile and (c) any other method used to calculate pay including, but not limited to, base pay, percentage of passenger fare, or any applicable price multiplier or variable pricing policy in effect for the trip (5) the driver’s net payment after deductions, fees, tolls, surcharges, lease fees, or other charges and (6) itemized deductions or fees, including all tolls, surcharges, commissions, lease fees, and other charges, from the driver’s payment. Trip notices Effective December 31, 2022, within 24 hours of completion of each dispatched trip, a TNC must transmit an electronic receipt to the driver that contains specific May 2, 2022 Volume 24 Issue 9
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