Read the passage below and then respond to the following three questions.

As a full-time Lyft driver working in southern California since 2017, I know the importance of flexibility at work. That’s why I decided to start driving in the first place–the ability to work when and for how long I wanted.

However, the reality of gig work is not so rosy. App-based companies such as Uber , Lyft, and DoorDash spend millions to convince lawmakers and the public that they should be exempt from worker protection laws that apply to all other employers. Working through lobbying groups such as Flex and the Coalition for Workforce Innovation (CWI)–the very group behind the WFCA–they pitch policymakers the false premise that drivers like me can’t have employee rights and benefits. They say that I am an independent contractor, even as key aspects of my job–like who I pick up, where I take them, and how much money I make—are set by Lyft.

“Flexibility” and “independence” sound nice, but here’s the truth: When you have to work over 50 hours a week to make ends meet, when you have to weigh every hour that you don’t work against the lost income, when you are one accident or illness away from financial ruin, flexibility and independence mean nothing.

Although I made a decent living as a driver initially, my pay per hour dropped by about 25% around a year after I started. Lyft had unilaterally cut drivers’ rates, forcing me to work longer hours to earn the same amount of money. That’s when I realized that “gig work flexibility” pushed me to work longer and during specific times. My pay continues to be unpredictable, especially because I incur expenses–like rising gas prices–that I cannot pass on to Lyft or my passengers.

Unlike employees, I’m paid only for some of my working time. In California, Uber and Lyft claim that they will guarantee pay equal to 120% of California’s minimum wage—which comes to $18 per hour—but this pay standard doesn’t account for the third of the time that drivers spend waiting to be assigned a new passenger or returning from trips to outlying areas. One study found that the minimum hourly pay for app-based drivers is really $5.64 per hour, after accounting for all working time and all expenses.

Further, although we face health and safety risks like carjackings at alarming rates , app-based drivers don’t have paid sick leave, workers’ compensation, or employer-provided medical insurance. Drivers end up relying on GoFundMe campaigns to pay for hospital bills and car repairs. Families of killed drivers have done the same for funeral expenses.

So why, according to the gig companies, aren’t they responsible as employers? Because their drivers get to choose when they work. There must be a tradeoff, the gig companies argue, between schedule flexibility on the one hand and employer responsibility and employment-based rights and protections on the other.

But this tradeoff is a lie. Many employees—including, I bet, many high-level executives at Uber and Lyft—get to work a schedule that fits their needs, while also enjoying the rights and protections that come with being an employee, including the right to a safe, healthy, and discrimination-free workplace, and benefits like paid leave, health insurance, and retirement savings.