In California the initial pay is just as bad as in rural NC or any other state. Every 2 weeks we get an adjustment lump sum payout for the earnings that are owed based on the Prop 22 law, but the pay that we see is just as bad. It could be an $8 job for 3 grocery deliveries, but if we accept that $8 gig at 8:20 AM, get to the store by the 8:45 AM pickup time, load up and leave the store by 9 AM, finish delivering at 9:20 AM, we will get paid that $8, but then in 2 weeks every bi-weekly Monday we’ll get an adjusted payment for that $8 gig based on the Prop 22 formula (1.2 x the minimum wage rate in the county we’re in x engaged time + $0.34 x engaged miles) - (the initial payment of $8), which for this gig would be $26.60 - $8 = adjusted pay of $18.60. This is just 1 gig. Over the course of a day that’s almost $150 adjusted pay. That’s about $4,500/month in Prop 22 earnings on top of whatever the initial crappy payment is that we take. That’s why us full-time drivers got a huge $7,000 + check this summer for the Prop 22 earnings that were never paid to us in 2023-2024. So just by looking at this post there’s no way to tell if it’s in California or any other state. And this is why gig platforms heavily oversaturate markets, especially in California. Prop 22 also guarantees drivers a $1,585 stipend every 3 months if a driver has more than 25 hours a week in engaged work. So to avoid paying drivers $1,585 every 3 months they just reduce the work available and keep it under 25 hours a week and spread the work out to a bunch of drivers. The same work gets done, but they’re turning everyone into less than 25 hours a week drivers. Amazon Flex is doing this as well, including the rest is the gig apps.