"I sent Instacart the doctor's note saying I need to quarantine after I got a COVID test. Instacart said it wasn't enough."
Companies like Instacart have made headlines recently for saying they’re giving workers sick leave so they can stay home if they have COVID & prevent spreading the illness.
The reality is — these aren’t sick leave policies. They’re PR statements. The policies are designed to be so restrictive, virtually no workers can access aid.
Here’s what happened when Laura, an Instacart worker in Springfield, IL, got sick with COVID symptoms and tried to access Instacart’s sick leave.
Read her story below. Then stand with Instacart workers in their strike to demand sick pay & other basic protections. And sign on to our demands for all gig companies here – because multibillion dollar corporations have a responsibility to keep sick workers at home & prevent the spread of coronavirus.
I started feeling sick around March 16 — that’s when I self-quarantined, because testing wasn’t really happening at that point and I didn’t feel like I needed to go to the doctor yet.
But things got progressively worse within five days. On the 21st, I woke up and I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was drowning.
Just to be able to go to the hospital, I had to call an 800 number and wait for a doctor to talk to me. I drove to the hospital and they met me at my car in spacesuits, ushered me into a tent where they took my temperature, and then brought me into a double-isolation room in the hospital.
They tested me for flu, strep, and other common illnesses — I didn’t have them, so they said it was likely I have COVID. I got a test, and they told me I should have my results back in 2-5 days, but also told me the test centers are inundated. It’s been eight days and I don’t have my results back.
As soon as I got home from the hospital, I submitted my paperwork to Instacart. I submitted every proof I could possibly include — my discharge papers, the note that says I need to quarantine, even a picture of my hospital bracelet. But they say it’s not enough.
Instacart wrote back a couple days later with paperwork for me and my doctors to fill out.
They gave me two PDF files, one I needed to fill out and one my doctor needed to fill out. I filled out what I could and sent it to them within twenty minutes of getting the email, but I couldn’t get doctors to fill out paperwork — I have no way of getting to the doctor right now and I’m not supposed to leave the house because I’m under quarantine.
My doctor said he can’t release my information to Instacart because of HIPAA laws. Instead, they gave me a follow-up note instructing me to quarantine and excusing me from work, and I sent it in to Instacart right away.
Today Instacart finally responded: “you do not meet the requirements to receive extended pay.”
They gave me no information about how I could access aid — they didn’t even tell me to stop working.
If Instacart did pay me, they say what they pay will be based on the 14 days I worked before diagnosis. When I’ve been at home in quarantine.
I have no money coming in right now. My boyfriend works in construction so he’s been laid off too. I’m already late on my car payment. No sick pay means no money for my car payment, no money for insurance, no money for rent, no medication and no food in the house.
I’ll be heartbroken if I lose my car. I’m having severe anxiety attacks thinking about it. I was just able to get a decent enough car to do this work — it’s something I love and have been doing for years now, ever since I turned to gig work so I could work a schedule that allowed me to take care of my son, who has epilepsy. If I can’t make my payment and my car gets repossessed, I won’t be able to go back to work. There’s no backup plan for me if that happens.
I wanted to do what’s right for me and everyone else, so I stayed at home. I went into quarantine believing that maybe Instacart was really going to do what they said they’d do and provide sick pay. Now, I’m almost kicking myself wishing I had kept working until it got so bad I had to stop.
I know there are other workers out there like me who have COVID and have been told to self-quarantine, but Instacart won’t pay us real sick pay. It’s money out of their pocket, so they’d rather have us keep working even if we’re sick. People have to make money to survive, and not everyone can afford to make the conscious choice I made to go without and take the risk of losing everything — so sick workers have no choice but to continue working and potentially spreading the virus.
Only essential workers are supposed to be out right now — and I’m all for companies like Instacart making sure customers can stay at home. But right now, they’re not helping people stay home — they’re putting our communities at risk.
Gig companies have put a lot of time into crafting PR statements about sick pay…with fine print that keeps workers from actually accessing it. What they aren’t doing is making sure sick workers can actually stay at home.
These policies are dangerous to workers, customers, and the community at large. Gig companies would rather keep sick workers on the road & delivering food than pay a dime to make sure they can stay home.
Stand with Instacart workers w/ Gig Workers Collective in their strike on Monday 3/30. Demand sick pay that actually allows those who need it to stay home, and protections like safety gear and hazard pay for those who continue working.
And sign on to our demands for all gig companies here – because multibillion dollar corporations & our government have a responsibility to ensure essential workers get essential protections during this crisis.