Why this Uber Eats bike courier is at the centre of a dispute over gig workers' rights in Ontario

An Uber Eats bike courier is at the centre of a dispute over the difference between an employee and an independent contractor in Ontario — with critics saying a labour ministry ruling in his case contradicts a new bill laying out the rights of gig workers.

Saurabh Sharma asked for help from lawyers and the union Gig Workers United after Uber clawed back almost $200 of his earnings last August due to a technical error on the app.

"I felt so helpless," Sharma, 28, told CBC News.

"There is no boss — your boss is the app."

The Ontario Ministry of Labour ruled late last month that Uber maintained sufficient control over Sharma's working conditions that he was an employee rather than an independent contractor, and that his working hours included all the time he spent delivering orders and waiting for work.

But the Working for Workers Act, introduced by Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton on Monday, provides all gig workers a $15/hr minimum wage only for "engaged" time spent making a delivery or transporting a passenger. Critics say the proposed bill is in direct conflict with the ruling in Sharma's case and that the Progressive Conservative government is trying to deny gig workers rights that the ministry's decision suggests they're entitled to. 

The ruling and the legislation are "contradictory," says Ryan White, Sharma's lawyer.

White says the Ford government's message to gig workers through the bill is: "'You're starting from nothing, and we're giving you some things,' when in fact, the inverse is true."

Sharma, a permanent resident and a law student who began working as an Uber Eats bike courier in 2020, was doing both full-time and part-time shifts to help pay the bills.

He says trying to find a resolution through Uber was demoralizing. 

"I tried chatting with support [staff] and they had nothing to say. They couldn't help me," he said, although he told CBC News the company did eventually offer to refund the money after he filed his complaint with the labour ministry..

After an Employment Standards officer reviewed his case and ruled Uber exercised control over his work, the app he uses for orders, and the amount of profit he makes, the ministry found the company contravened a dozen rules outlined in the Employment Standards Act. 

Uber was ordered to pay back almost $1,000 in wages. Brice Sopher, vice president of Gig Workers United, says the union pushed for a resolution because cases like Sharma's case are a common occurrence..

"We knew we had to do something, because we could only imagine how many other workers that that happened to." Sopher said.