Arizona Labor Dispatch, Vol. 2, Issue 107
We are thrilled to share groundbreaking news: San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has secured a $2.1 million deal requiring a major gig economy company to reclassify its workers as employees. This monumental victory underscores the power of collective action and advocacy, ensuring crucial benefits and protections for workers. Let's celebrate this achievement while remaining steadfast in our commitment to continue fighting for rights of all workers.
SAN FRANCISCO (February 22, 2024) — San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced today that he has reached a groundbreaking agreement with Qwick that requires the company to convert all of its misclassified California workers to employees, ensuring they are eligible for the full range of employee benefits and protections. In 2023, Chiu sued Qwick, a gig economy company that provides on-demand staffing to the hospitality industry, for depriving workers of critical employment protections by misclassifying them as independent contractors instead of employees.
Under the proposed Final Judgment and Injunction, submitted to the San Francisco Superior Court yesterday for approval, Qwick must pay its California workers $1.5 million in restitution and provide workers that stay on as employees a bank of accrued sick leave hours valued at up to $350,000. Qwick will also pay $250,000 to the City in civil penalties. If the settlement is approved, City Attorney Chiu will have secured the first injunction in California requiring a gig economy staffing company to permanently reclassify thousands of workers.
“Hospitality work is grueling, and our hotel and restaurant workers deserve to be treated fairly,” said City Attorney Chiu. “This proposed judgment puts money back in the pockets of workers, and ensures that they will have the full complement of employee rights and benefits moving forward. It also ensures that law-abiding staffing companies will no longer be at a competitive disadvantage. We are sending a clear message: we will not allow this illegal business model to take root in the hospitality industry.”
“For too long, corporations have gotten away with misclassifying workers as independent contractors to cheat them out of wages and basic rights,” said Lorena Gonzalez, Principal Officer of the CA Labor Federation. “Today’s settlement with Qwick embodies everything we want to see in enforcement efforts: a permanent injunction to reclassify workers as employees, restitution of wages to the workers, and penalties to reimburse the costs of enforcement. We are grateful to City Attorney Chiu and the staff of his Worker Protection Team for leading the way on enforcement— protecting workers and responsible businesses.”
“This settlement is a huge victory for Qwick workers who are entitled to the same protections, wages, and benefits as their peers employed at hotels and restaurants,” said Anand Singh, President of UNITE HERE Local 2. “We appreciate the work of the City Attorney’s Office to enforce the law in San Francisco. Employers should be on notice that they can’t get away with worker misclassification here in our city.”
In solidarity,Fred Yamashita
Secretary-Treasurer
Executive Director
Arizona AFL-CIO
