➜ Postmates claims they’re providing 14 days of paid sick leave — but their system simply isn’t paying out. (+)

Postmates made headlines last month when they issued a press release saying they'd be paying sick leave to protect workers & prevent the spread of COVID.

The reality: they told workers sick leave was available...but didn't give us any way to apply. After workers spoke out about their fake policy, Postmates finally created an application form on April 18...which still provides no info about what we need to be eligible, how much our sick pay will be, or when to expect a response.

What's more: Postmates immediately deactivates workers when they apply for sick leave, without paying them — and many workers report that they're unable to get back on the app afterwards.

With the threat of deactivation, and no guarantee of a payout, many Postmates workers will have no choice but to continue working despite being sick. This policy poses a direct threat not only to workers, but to public health.

➜ Postmates isn't paying hazard pay — in fact, they've used the crisis as an excuse to lower their pay. (+)

Pay on Postmates was already obscenely low. Not only do workers cover all the costs of doing our work — mileage, gas, maintenance expenses — but Postmates uses a bizarre formula that almost inevitably results in subminimum wages. They pay:

• As little as$1.30 for each pickup and 70 cents for each dropoff
• 7 cents per minute for wait time in the restaurant (equivalent to $4.20/hour)
• As little as 43 cents for each mile we drive from the restaurant to the customers — which is below the IRS mileage reimbursement rate.

Add that all up...and you're looking at payouts around $3-4 for an average job.

Right before the crisis, Postmates got rid of their "minimum guarantee" of $3 per job. And they haven't brought it back — they don't need to, because instead they can flood the market with newly unemployed workers who are desperate for cash.

And while they rake in income from the crisis, they're ramping up their partnership with Chipotle, offering free deliveryto bring in new customers.

The workers pay the price: we're seeing more "stacked orders" from Chipotle, where they're forced to take another order to another customer, without extra base pay. And we're getting more cancelled orders due to restaurant shutdowns — so we spend $ and time driving to the restaurant, only to get paid absolutely nothing for the order.

Overall, we're seeing lower pay at a time when even fast-food companies like Chipotle have bumped up their pay to acknowledge the risk essential workers are taking on.

➜ Postmates has failed to provide workers with the basic safety protections we need to protect ourselves & the public from risk. (+)

Unlike other gig companies, Postmates hasn't offered PPE to workers. They recently announced they would start sending out masks to high-risk areas — but it's not clear who gets them or when. And we still don't have other basics, like gloves, disinfectant, or hand sanitizer.

What's worse: Postmates has refused to implement safety measures that wouldn't cost them a dime. They've given customers the ability to opt for "no-contact delivery" if they choose it — but workers can't choose no-contact delivery unless the customer wants it.

And we're sent on risky jobs constantly — to crowded restaurants like Chipotle that don't practice social distancing & often won't even let us use the restroom to wash our hands. To doorsteps where we have to hand off food directly to customers. Even to hospitals, as Postmates creates programs to "heroically" step up to provide food for medical workers at our expense.

Gig workers know our jobs put us in danger of becoming sick, or even becoming vectors for coronavirus. We know many of our customers use delivery services because they're high-risk and can't go out to get food themselves. We want to protect ourselves, and the public — but Postmates, and its partner companies like Chipotle, refuse to provide the basic safety measures we need.