CashoutGlossary / Active hours
Active hours
The time a gig worker spends logged in to a driving or delivery app, counting time waiting for offers as well as time spent on rides or deliveries.
Active hours is a loose term for the time you're logged in and working on a gig app. It usually covers waiting for an offer, driving to a pickup, and the ride or delivery itself. Each platform defines and reports its own version, so the number in your app may mean something narrower.
The line that matters is between all your logged-in time and the time you're actually on a job. California's Proposition 22 calls the second one "engaged time": the period from when a driver accepts a ride or delivery request to when the driver completes it, as recorded in the app. Its earnings floor includes 120 percent of the applicable minimum wage for engaged time, so the time you spend waiting between offers isn't part of that wage floor.
For your own records, count every hour you're logged in. A ride that paid $30 and took one hour of engaged time inside two hours online paid you $15 an hour, not $30, and that's before car costs. Enter your total hours in the hourly rate calculator to see your real rate, and log your business miles with them for the mileage deduction.
A common mistake is comparing gig pay with a restaurant shift using only trip time. Waiting is part of the job even when nobody pays you for it.
Related terms
Acceptance rate · Independent contractor · Mileage log · Mileage deduction
