Postmates mentioned that will probably be making a fund to cowl the prices for physician appointments and medical bills associated to the COVID-19 outbreak for its supply fleet and for retailers, Postmates will waive fee charges for shops in impacted markets.
The aim, the corporate mentioned, is to provide small enterprise homeowners entry to on-demand supply at no extra value. Postmates mentioned it might launch the initiatives this week.
As the corporate famous, over half of Individuals are unable to afford a $400 sudden expense, so the Postmates Fleet Reduction Fund will enable its couriers to take proactive preventive well being. The corporate mentioned the brand new coverage builds on steps it has already taken like issuing steerage from CDC to its fleet, and the creation of the brand new non-contact dropoff option contained in the app.
Postmates couriers who’ve made a minimum of one supply in states the place instances of COVID-19 have been recognized will ben eligible for credit from the emergency aid fund, which might be deposited in the direction of the Postmates well being financial savings car (which is powered by Starship), the corporate mentioned.
Any Postmate courier who doesn’t have a well being account however is within the emergency aid credit score, can join the well being financial savings car and develop into eligible for the stipend to cowl bills, regardless of prognosis or quarantine. couriers can sign up on the company’s website.
The corporate can be waiving fee charges for firms that wish to enroll with the service for a “pilot program”.
The pilot program is just for companies that aren’t presently on the platform and are working out of San Francisco.
Like different expertise firms within the Bay space and past, the Postmates program is a mixture of social good (and aligns with different huge tech firms’ initiatives) and an try and seize extra prospects and market share within the time of a disaster.
The corporate’s transfer can be rather less dangerous provided that the federal government is weighing choices to compensate hourly staff for well being bills associated to the coronavirus and bailouts for small companies impacted by the methods by which state and native governments try and mitigate the unfold of th edisease.
“Nationally, one in 4 non-public sector staff lack entry to any sick depart in any respect. Whereas our ongoing campaigns in California, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois search to modernize 20th century legal guidelines to suit 21st century work for impartial staff, now could be the time to place apart the politics of the gig economic system and work with all stakeholders to develop inventive and significant emergency help for frontline staff who could also be uncovered — it’s the suitable factor to do,” mentioned Vikrum Aiyer, Vice President of Public Coverage for Postmates. “We all know that two thirds of the people that perform deliveries by way of the Postmates app have well being care, however we wish to be certain that anybody can afford preventative bills.”
