Committee reenacts and forwards worker-safety and scheduling protections for grocery, restaurant and delivery workers

Supervisor Matt Haney asked the Government Audit and Oversight Committee to reenact an emergency ordinance providing health and scheduling protections for grocery, drugstore, restaurant and on-demand delivery workers, and the committee voted to forward the reenactment to the full Board with a positive recommendation.

Haney said the ordinance, which first took effect May 1 and was previously renewed, requires employers to provide personal protective equipment such as gloves, masks, sanitizer and soap. On-demand delivery employees must be reimbursed for purchasing these items and must be paid for time spent cleaning vehicles or driving to hand-washing facilities. Employers must offer the option of no-contact delivery and are required to approve schedule-change requests under the city's paid-sick-leave ordinance. The ordinance also establishes complaint and enforcement mechanisms with the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE).

A public commenter who identified himself as a courier said DoorDash's current San Francisco practice paid roughly 78¢ per day as reimbursement, which he said was insufficient to cover supplies and time. "That comes to, like, 3 or $4 per week if you work every day," the caller said, urging the city to clarify how much reimbursement should be. Haney responded that enforcement is critical, pointed to the OLSE hotline and said the ordinance is explicit that reimbursement should cover the actual cost of gloves, masks and sanitizer.

After public comment, Chair Gordon Marr moved to forward the reenactment to the Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation. The clerk recorded unanimous committee support (Peskin, Haney, Marr). The item will appear on the Board agenda for consideration.