‘These People Are Evil’: Drivers Speak Out Against Uber’s New Coronavirus Sick Leave Fund
By: Sarah Emerson
Tags: Gig Economy, Health, Uber, Business, Coronavirus

“I think I’m going to fall through the cracks,” said Kimberly James, a 46-year-old driver for Uber Eats in Atlanta, Georgia. After a series of devastating hardships, including losing her house in a fire, James has come to rely on food delivery platforms like Uber Eats and DoorDash to survive. In 2012, James was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, and her weekly income of $400 means she cannot afford to get sick. Health officials have warned that the coronavirus is especially dangerous for immunocompromised people, so today James has no choice but to isolate indoors.

“[Uber thinks] that drivers are college students, but what they don’t understand is that most are elderly, poor, and people like me.”

Uber’s Covid-19 sick leave program allows drivers to apply for up to 14 days of compensation through a new portal on its Driver app. One-time payouts are based on a person’s average daily earnings for the past six months. Someone making $28.57 per day is eligible for a payment of $400, the equivalent of 14 days of average pay, while someone earning $121.42 per day can receive $1,700, Uber says on its website. To qualify, drivers must have completed one trip in the 30 days before March 6, 2020, when the global program was first announced.

Only four types of people are covered by the program, according to Uber’s guidelines: those diagnosed with Covid-19, someone placed in individual quarantine by a public health authority, anyone “asked by a public health authority or licensed medical provider to self-isolate,” and drivers whose accounts have been “restricted by Uber as a result of information provided by a public health authority” that they have been exposed to Covid-19.

While these criteria seem broad, OneZero spoke to several Uber drivers who said they exclude many workers without access to medical care.

“[Uber thinks] that drivers are college students, but what they don’t understand is that most are elderly, poor, and people like me,” James said. “It’s the only job we can do.”

Last week, James submitted an application for financial assistance through Uber’s Covid-19 portal. After explaining why she had self-quarantined, her request for compensation was acknowledged by a customer service operator, who wrote, “We understand that health is an important subject, and we are sorry to hear about your experience,” while listing recommendations such as, “If you feel sick, stay at home.”

As James puts it, the Uber operator told her “to either basically get the virus or find a way to get a doctor’s note, and I can’t afford to go to a doctor.” Before Congress passed legislation making coronavirus testing free, some patients treated for the coronavirus saw hospital bills of more than $30,000. For many Americans, the cost of treatment is simply unaffordable.

At one point in the conversation, which OneZero reviewed, Uber directed James to a portal where law enforcement and public health officials can submit information requests — effectively a dead end. She has since stopped trying to convince Uber to provide financial assistance while she cannot work.

When asked why it was sending drivers to a law enforcement portal, a spokesperson for Uber told OneZero that it is “changing that process to better the increased volume and ensure it’s easier for drivers and delivery people to access.”

The company has not revealed how many drivers have applied for or received financial compensation.

“I need the company that I helped make a lot of money to be there for me,” James wrote in the conversation thread.