· founded 2013
see the full file on Lyft drivers| Guaranteed earnings floor | WASHINGTON STATE ONLY, and the rate depends on which side of the Seattle line the trip starts. Under the statewide rideshare law enforced by Washington L&I, from 1 January 2026 a trip starting inside Seattle pays the greater of $0.70 per passenger-platform minute plus $1.63 per passenger-platform mile, or $6.12 per dispatched trip. A trip starting and ending outside Seattle pays the greater of $0.40 per minute plus $1.38 per mile, or $3.55 per dispatched trip - roughly half. A cancelled trip still counts as dispatched in defined circumstances. Nothing comparable applies in most US states. |
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| Benefits for contractors | WASHINGTON STATE ONLY. Since 1 January 2023 rideshare drivers in Washington have a legal right to paid sick time and to workers' compensation, enforced by the state Department of Labor & Industries under RCW 49.46 - benefits that do not exist for Lyft drivers in most of the US. The same law funds a Driver Resource Center that represents drivers in deactivation appeals. Two limits are on the record: the protections cover only drivers carrying passengers, not food and goods delivery, and the workers' compensation cover excludes vehicle repairs. |
| How you are engaged | CALIFORNIA. Proposition 22 (Business and Professions Code s7451) writes app-based driver status into California law: a driver is an independent contractor, not an employee, provided the company does not set their hours, does not require them to accept any particular request, does not stop them driving for competing platforms outside engaged time, and does not stop them working elsewhere. It is a statutory carve-out from the Labor Code and the Unemployment Insurance Code, which is why a California Lyft driver has no unemployment insurance or state minimum wage from this work. |
| No experience needed | Lyft's US application-requirements page states a hard age floor of 25 to drive - far above the 18 or 19 that food-delivery platforms ask for, and it rules the job out for most students and school leavers. Also required: consent to a criminal background check and a driving-history review (Lyft states this is not a credit check), insurance and registration if you use your own car, vehicle inspection in some regions, and a 4-door vehicle or an Express Drive rental. No previous work experience is required. |
| Works around classes | There is no schedule to work around: you go online in the Driver app when you want a ride request. Lyft publishes a driver testimonial from a student saying exactly that - it is marketing rather than a policy commitment, and it is recorded here as the company's own claim, not as a guarantee. What Lyft does not promise is demand: choosing your hours is not the same as those hours being worth driving. |
| Hours a week to qualify | CALIFORNIA. Proposition 22's healthcare subsidy is gated on average ENGAGED TIME per week across a calendar quarter: 25 hours or more earns at least 100% of the average ACA contribution toward a Covered California premium, 15 to under 25 hours earns 50%, and below 15 hours there is no subsidy. Engaged time excludes time spent waiting for a ride request, so the threshold is harder to reach than the same number of hours logged into the app would suggest. Outside California no hours threshold gets a Lyft driver health cover, because there is none to qualify for. |
Every claim above is sourced and dated. See sources on the full page.
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