Uber’s UK drivers get paid vacation, pensions after Supreme Court ruling

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The company said on Tuesday that drivers as “employees” – a classification unique to UK labor law and not “employees” – will be entitled to minimum wage, vacation time and pension. Uber has not applied the changes to its Uber Eats food delivery services, only drivers.
Uber UBER said the minimum wage will be based on committed time after a trip is accepted and after spending – a definition that could be the subject of research. The court ruled last month that drivers work from the moment they turn on the Uber app, and not just when they are carrying passengers, as the company has argued.

Last month, the court ruled that a group of Uber drivers who sued an employment court were not independent contractors because their activities were “very tightly defined and controlled by Uber.” The judge mentioned the company’s control over rates and how it sets the contractual terms on which drivers perform their services. The lawsuit against Uber was first filed by Yaseen Aslam and James Farrar in 2016 when the two men were driving for Uber.

The decision marked a significant defeat for Uber in the UK, where it has come under pressure from labor activists and transport regulators. Uber has defended its controversial business model by treating its employees as independent contractors while, more recently, presenting the addition of new benefits as a middle ground of sorts.

“Following last month’s UK Supreme Court ruling, we could have continued to challenge drivers’ rights to one of these protections in court. Instead, we decided to turn the page,” Uber CEO wrote. Dara Khosrowshahi in an opinion piece published Tuesday by the Evening Standard discussing the changes. “We called for updates to legal frameworks, both in the US and in the EU, that would ensure benefits and protections for independent workers without taking away the flexibility that makes this type of work so attractive to them in the first place.”
The UK business model change follows a decisive victory in the home state of California, where voters passed a ballot in November that exempts Uber and other gig economy companies from a state law that would have required them to reclassify their drivers and delivery drivers as employees rather than independent contractors.

As part of the ballot box measure, Uber continues to treat its drivers as independent contractors with a number of new benefits, including a minimum earnings guarantee based on ‘engaged time’ when a driver complies with a ride or delivery request, but not the time they spend. waiting for a performance. Uber and other gig companies have announced that they intend to pass similar laws in other states, as well as pursuing federal law in the United States to strengthen their approach.

Scott McLean and Mick Krever from CNN Business

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