Instacart Gig Workers: 72% Face Wage Theft in 2025

A UCLA Labor Center report from 2025 found that a shocking 72% of surveyed gig workers in Los Angeles have had their wages stolen or been misclassified. That number isn’t an abstraction. It’s the reality for people who keep the on-demand economy running, including someone hustling deliveries on an Instacart motorcycle through the dense traffic of Los Angeles. The laws around these workers are a messy, tangled battlefield of court cases and legislative fights. So what are the actual rights of a gig worker dropping off groceries in Santa Monica or working through the streets of Koreatown?

The ABC Test: A Persistent Legal Battleground

At the heart of California’s gig worker classification is Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), which wrote the “ABC test” from the state Supreme Court’s 2018 Dynamex decision into law. The test is straightforward: it assumes a worker is an employee, and the company has to prove all three of the following to classify them as an independent contractor: (A) the worker is free from the company’s control and direction, both in contract and in practice; (B) the work being done is outside the usual course of the company’s business. And (C) the worker has their own independently established business doing that same type of work. Then in 2025, the California Supreme Court’s decision in People v. Uber Technologies, Inc. slammed the door on many of the legal loopholes that gig platforms had been trying to use, affirming that the ABC test absolutely applies to them and directly affects how a company like Instacart has to classify its drivers. For a driver on an Instacart motorcycle, this means if Instacart controls their routes or how they do their job (that’s Part A), or if delivering groceries is (obviously) part of Instacart’s main business (Part B), they’re almost certainly an employee under the law. Gig companies love to push the idea that flexibility means you’re an independent contractor. That’s a fundamental misreading of the law. The ABC test doesn’t care about a flexible schedule. It cares about control and the nature of the business.

30% Surge in Misclassification Complaints

The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) saw a 30% spike in misclassification complaints against gig platforms between 2024 and 2025. This isn’t just a statistic. It represents thousands of actual people, many using their own car or an Instacart motorcycle to earn a living, who are now fighting for basic protections that should have been theirs from day one. That surge shows the deep friction between how these tech companies want to operate and what labor law demands. When a worker is misclassified, they lose out on everything: minimum wage, overtime pay, workers’ comp, unemployment, and paid sick days. Think about a driver picking up an order in Silver Lake to deliver in Echo Park. If they’re misclassified, they could work a 50-hour week for Instacart with no overtime pay, something a legally-defined employee would be entitled to. Worse, if they get into a crash on Sunset Boulevard while on a delivery, getting medical care and compensation for lost wages becomes a nightmare that lands squarely on them. The DIR’s data shows workers are catching on and fighting back. My experience in this field is that these complaints are never easy wins and require a mountain of documentation and relentless advocacy to prove the reality of the employment relationship.

Limited Access to Workers’ Compensation: A Critical Gap

For an Instacart motorcycle driver in Los Angeles, one of the most devastating effects of being misclassified is getting shut out of the workers’ compensation system. If the company calls you an independent contractor, you typically can’t get workers’ comp, which means you’re on your own for all medical bills and lost income after an injury on the job. This is a world away from the protections given to employees under laws like Georgia’s O.C.G.A. Section 34-9-1, which makes workers’ comp mandatory for most employees to cover medical care and replace wages for work-related injuries. Picture this: an Instacart driver is weaving through downtown LA traffic on their motorcycle and gets into an accident, breaking their leg. It needs surgery and months of recovery. If they’re an independent contractor, they’re facing huge medical debt and zero income. It’s the kind of financial blow that can ruin a family. The “freedom” that gig companies sell often hides the fact that there’s no safety net. Workers’ comp is a no-fault system for employees, meaning it pays out regardless of who caused the accident. For a misclassified gig worker, all the financial risk and burden of proof is shifted onto their shoulders. It’s an impossible situation.

The “Prop 22” Exception and Its Aftermath

Back in 2020, California voters passed Proposition 22, an initiative funded by gig companies to exempt themselves from AB 5. It let them keep classifying drivers as independent contractors in exchange for offering a few alternative benefits. For an Instacart motorcycle driver, Prop 22 meant they’d get a confusing minimum earnings guarantee, a small healthcare stipend (only if they worked enough hours), and some accident insurance, but nothing close to the full protections of an employee, like real workers’ comp or unemployment benefits. But the fight wasn’t over. An Alameda County Superior Court judge found Prop 22 unconstitutional in 2021, saying it illegally interfered with the legislature’s power to set workers’ compensation rules. That ruling was later overturned on appeal in 2023, but the constant legal challenges show just how unstable this whole area of law is. The battle over Prop 22 means the rights of an Instacart motorcycle driver in Los Angeles are still very much up in the air. Even with Prop 22 technically in effect, the benefits are a shadow of what employees receive, and with more appeals likely, workers are left wondering what their rights will be next year. My take is that the original intent of AB 5 and the Dynamex case is still the law of the land, and the push to make these companies treat their workers as employees isn’t going away.

Working through Injury Claims: A Complex Path

Any worker hurt on the job in Los Angeles, whether they’re on an Instacart motorcycle or in an office, has to know how to file an injury claim. If you’re an employee, it’s pretty clear: you report the injury, see a doctor, and file for workers’ comp. The company’s insurance should then cover your medical care and part of your lost wages. For a gig worker who’s been misclassified, that clear path is blocked. The first thing you have to do is prove you were an employee all along using the ABC test, which almost always means getting a lawyer involved to fight the company’s classification. Only after you win that fight can you pursue the benefits you were denied. You have to move fast. In California, the statute of limitations for filing a workers’ comp claim is typically just one year from your injury date. If you miss that deadline, you could lose your right to file forever. For anyone hurt while working, maybe a slip-and-fall at a customer’s mansion in Beverly Hills or getting hit in traffic on the 10 Freeway, quick action and detailed records are everything. Getting legal advice from the start dramatically improves your odds of getting your medical bills paid and recovering lost income. It’s a tough fight, but with the right help, it’s a fight that many workers are winning. The rights of gig workers in Los Angeles, especially those on an Instacart motorcycle, are defined by a complex war of court cases and legislation, and workers have to be proactive to claim their rights to fair pay and injury protection.