Minimum Wage – Delivery Services Worker and Ride-Hail Services Worker - Regulation Part 4, Section 18.2
Last updated on September 17, 2024Contents:
Summary
Text of Legislation
Policy Interpretation
Related Information
Summary
This section establishes the minimum wage for delivery services workers and ride-hail services workers.
Text of Legislation
Minimum wage – delivery services worker and ride-hail services worker
18.2 (1) The minimum hourly wage for a delivery services worker or ride-hail services worker is $20.88.
(2) The minimum hourly wage under subsection (1) applies only to engaged time.
(3) For the purpose of applying subsections (1) and (2) to a delivery services worker or ride-hail services worker, the employer of the worker must pay to the worker any shortfall that arises if the worker’s total online work earnings in a pay period are less than the minimum hourly wage multiplied by the number of hours of engaged time for that pay period.
Policy Interpretation
Delivery services workers and ride-hail services workers have their own minimum hourly wage rate of $20.88. They receive this rate only for “engaged time”, which means the time between when they accept a job through the online platform and when they complete the job (or it is cancelled).
Any amounts owing for distance expenses (i.e. mileage) or gratuities (i.e. tips) are in addition to the minimum hourly wage and cannot be used to calculate whether the worker has received minimum wage under this section.
Example: A delivery services worker logs into the online platform at 10 am, indicating they are available to work. At 10:05, the online platform sends the worker an offer to pick up some food and deliver it to a business. The worker accepts the offer at 10:06. They drive to the restaurant, wait for the food to be prepared, and when it is, deliver it to the business at 10:46 am. Their engaged time began at 10:06 and ended at 10:46. They had 40 minutes (0.67 hours) of engaged time for the purposes of calculating their minimum wage entitlements.
Workers are not entitled to minimum wage for each block of engaged time. Rather, the worker must receive at least the $20.88 minimum wage for all engaged time within a given pay period. Pay periods for online services workers are governed by section 17 (paydays), just like other workers.
Example: A delivery services worker has engaged time totalling 56 hours in a 2-week pay period. Their earnings from the offers they received during that time total $1,100. In addition, they receive $45.67 as their distance allowance and $45 in tips. The worker is entitled to a top-up of $69.28 from the online platform, because their earnings from offers ($1,100) were less than the minimum wage multiplied by the engaged time they worked:
56 hours x $20.88 = $1,169.28
If the worker’s earnings had been $1,200 in the same period (not including distance allowance and tips), they would not be entitled to a minimum wage top-up, even if some of the deliveries they made did not equate to the minimum wage for the amount of engaged time spent.
Example: A delivery services worker has 40 minutes of engaged time. The online platform pays them $10 for that time. 40 minutes of engaged time = 0.67 hours, which equates to $13.99 if the minimum wage were applied to that individual offer. If those 40 minutes are the worker's only engaged time in the pay period, then the online platform needs to pay them an additional $3.99 to ensure they receive at least the minimum wage. As long as the worker has other offers in the pay period that bring their average pay above the minimum wage for each hour of engaged time, they are not entitled to any additional wages for that work.
Related Information
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