• Uber drivers win full employment rights in UK
    10 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37802386[/url] [quote]Uber drivers have won the right to be classed as workers rather than self-employed. The ruling by a London employment tribunal means drivers for the ride-hailing app will be entitled to holiday pay, paid rest breaks and the National Minimum Wage. The GMB union described the decision as a "monumental victory" for some 40,000 drivers in England and Wales. Uber said it would appeal against the ruling that it had acted unlawfully.[/quote]
Bit confusing, seeing as most Uber drivers aren't full time.
Curious as to how they are supposed to prevent people from abusing this ie clocking on at times they know are completely dead and being paid minimum wage, doing 1 job an hour and just sitting in their car watching movies the rest of the time, as well as having times with loads of drivers but few requests. Unless I'm mistaken this sounds like it could mean that working for Uber could become much tougher/less flexible. For a while I used Uber almost every day multiple times a day and despite a common question of mine being 'how is uber to work for?' most of them seemed to really like the system that is in place.
This is what happens when your entire business model is organised to get around labour protection laws.
I remember they pulled out of Austin, Texas because of something like this. I wonder if they'll do the same thing again or if it's too much of their revenue stream to do so. I imagine it would be, so they'll probably have to bite the bullet.
[QUOTE=Cushie;51273854]Curious as to how they are supposed to prevent people from abusing this ie clocking on at times they know are completely dead and being paid minimum wage, doing 1 job an hour and just sitting in their car watching movies the rest of the time, as well as having times with loads of drivers but few requests.[/QUOTE] It is possible to fire employees for poor performance, and schedule their working hours so that they are around during peak hours and not during dead hours. That is the irony here, the fact that they are now employees means that Uber can say "nah, sorry mate, this isn't your shift" and schedule them for some other time. So by doing this, they effectively lost their ability to guarantee their own schedules. [QUOTE=Cushie;51273854]Unless I'm mistaken this sounds like it could mean that working for Uber could become much tougher/less flexible. For a while I used Uber almost every day multiple times a day and despite a common question of mine being 'how is uber to work for?' most of them seemed to really like the system that is in place.[/QUOTE] Personally I question the change. It invokes a lot of weird quirks that I don't think the Uber platform was designed for. I don't think the creators wanted it to become a full-time job for people, I think they just wanted it to be a fun little side thing for beer money. But now it's just transformed into this behemoth of a system and they've lost control of it. They paid $100mm to avoid this problem in CA and PA alone to settle a lawsuit. I think it's obvious they do not want this to become a trend.
[QUOTE=Occlusion;51273840]Bit confusing, seeing as most Uber drivers aren't full time.[/QUOTE] Doesnt have anything to do with hours
What Uber's been doing is basically what's been a trend in transport and many industries. Uber just skipped the first few steps. Basically, a lot of companies force employees to open a sole proprietorship. While this may be slightly more expensive during surges, and if the company doesn't need a driver (or whatever the field of work may be), that driver is stuck doing nothing. When you're a sole proprietorship you're working as a company providing service to a different company, so a lot of regulations go out of the window. If the employer doesn't need drivers because it's off season, they just don't call you. If you're sick, well, your problem. The time you're lying in bed means that basically your entire company that's supposed to pay you is doing nothing. With this, Uber gets a taste of what they did to taxi companies. Kinda hard to keep your model when regulation's choking your profits.
Someone on reddit ([url]https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/59ucyb/uber_drivers_in_the_uk_have_won_an_employment/d9bhgbn/[/url]) posted the key reasons from the judgement: [quote] 1. Uber has sole and absolute discretion to accept or decline bookings 2. Uber interviews and recruits drivers 3. Uber controls key information – passenger contact details and destination in particular. Drivers can’t access such information and don't even know where they are going until the trip starts. 4. Uber requires drivers to accept trips assigned to them 5. Uber sets the default route 6. Uber fixes the fare and drivers can’t negotiate a higher fare or other terms with passengers (as an independent contractor would be able to) 7. Uber imposes fixed conditions such as the type of vehicle that drivers must use and how drivers do their work 8. Uber subjects drivers to performance management and disciplinary procedures 9. Uber determines issues such as rebates without involving the driver 10. The discontinued guaranteed earnings scheme (fixed pay being a characteristic of employees) 11. Uber takes on risk of loss such as in the case of fraudulent passengers 12. Uber (not the drivers) handles complaints by passengers, including complaints about drivers 13. Uber can amend the drivers’ terms unilaterally 14. Forbidding drivers from contacting passengers after rides (someone running a business would normally be able to contact his clients) 15. Using terms like "on-duty" and "off-duty" and referring to "our drivers" and "our vehicles" [/quote]
ubers argument was hot garbage though, they are not and never have been a conglomerate of 30,000 small businesses utilizing uber's software platform
[QUOTE=Blizzerd;51273861]This is what happens when your entire business model is organised to get around labour protection laws.[/QUOTE] Seems to me that this will just add more fuel to the autonomous cars. That way uber can get around this all together.
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