“When we don’t have access to paid time off, it means that a lot of the time, we have to go to work sick or make the difficult decision of adjusting our budget, which is generally already pushed to its limit.” —Laura, nanny

New research confirms what Seattle workers already knew: the right to a stable, predictable schedule has been transformative.

We are thrilled to welcome Danielle Alvarado as the new Executive Director of Working Washington & Fair Work Center. Danielle has more than a decade of experience working in the movement for racial and economic justice. And she knows our organization inside & out: since 2019, she’s been our Legal Director.

It’s Labor Day weekend — and the federal government is marking the occasion by allowing crucial unemployment benefits to expire for millions of people.

“This is about survival.”

Over the past year, OLS has moved a total of more than $5 million from gig companies to 24K+ gig workers in Seattle for violations of the sick leave and hazard pay laws. And that’s on top of the millions of dollars workers are already getting when companies comply with the law by providing paid sick time and paying $2.50/job hazard pay.

Here’s the rundown.

There once was an owner confounded…

GoPuff is raking in billions because of its “innovative” business model: hiring gig workers for shift work at just $3 per job. These subminimum wages are nothing new in the gig economy — companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash also pay subminimum wages to workers on the promise of flexibility.

But GoPuff takes it a step further. They call their workers "independent contractors" so they can get away with paying subminimum wages, but GoPuff doesn't even bother to pretend workers have real flexibility. GoPuff drivers work on scheduled shifts, have to take whatever orders they're given, and even report to managers.

That means workers get the worst of both worlds: none of the protections that come with being an employee, and none of the flexibility that's important to many people who do gig work.

On June 10 of last year, Instacart told customers that “access to same-day grocery delivery could be at risk” if City Council passed hazard pay.

But now, a year later, biz is booming, their CEO is a billionaire, they’re rolling out even faster delivery in Seattle, and they’re….*checks notes*…still here.

As part of the Seattle Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, we won the creation of an innovative, first-in-the-nation Domestic Workers Standards Board: a place for workers and employers to come together and make formal recommendations to the city about how we can continue improving conditions for workers.

Three years later, how’s it going? Over the past few months, nannies and housecleaners have come together on a list of recommendations to the city, focusing especially on the widespread lack of paid time off in the industry. Nearly two-thirds of nannies and house cleaners in the Seattle area can’t take paid time off when they’re sick to stay home and get healthy.

So domestic workers are leading an innovative solution — and last week, they brought their formal recommendations directly to the Seattle City Council.