Uber failed to overturn a tribunal ruling that it should treat its drivers as “workers”. If forced to treat its 40,000 UK drivers as “workers”, it'll have guarantee minimum wage and holiday pay. Uber says this would probably mean it scheduled shifts rather than allowing them to “log on” when they wanted to. Uber may then have to pay employers’ national insurance contributions (UK Social Security) and VAT (sales tax)
Uber is able to appeal again to the Court of Appeal and possibly to the Supreme Court.
Tom Elvidge, Uber UK’s acting general manager, said: “Almost all taxi and private hire drivers have been self-employed for decades, long before our app existed. The main reason why drivers use Uber is because they value the freedom to choose if, when and where they drive and so we intend to appeal.”
Original tribunal found in October 2016 that the company exerted too much control over their work to class them as truly independent.
James Farrar, one of the two Uber drivers who brought the case, said: “Uber cannot go on flouting UK law with impunity and depriving people of their minimum wage rights.”
Deliveroo, a food delivery gig platform, is also facing a legal challenge from a group of couriers who say they are not truly self-employed. Ditto for Pimlico Plumbers, taxi firm Addison Lee and courier company CitySprint
The implications are enormous here as it means:
- no more ability to charge a surge or at least high a multiple since shifts scheduling means they can control some basic level of service
- no more ability to incent people with 'unlimited earnings potential'
- that slavish customer service to maintain 4 stars goes out the window when you can't just fire people
- realistically, if it comes to pass I expect not many drivers to pass the 'probationary' period when many/most benefits can be held back
FWIW, I think Uber's atrocious hubris is giving a bad face to what can potentially be a great industry. If they just weren't such dicks to everyone all the time (see: Lyft) something could be worked out
Submitted November 10, 2017 at 08:26AM by wanmoar http://ift.tt/2zsT0p9
