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Highest French court reclassifies Uber drivers as employees

courdecassation.fr

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Re: Highest French court reclassifies Uber drivers as employees

#71
post #59

All of this is a legal system that has a square hole and a circular hole not knowing what to do with a triangular peg. Governments job is to realize that this is a new category of work and create laws specifically to address it.

why does the government need to bend backwards to allow underpaid jobs ?

Presumably if sufficient participants in the process of that government prefer to work these jobs.

What does 'underpaid' mean in this context?

Re: Highest French court reclassifies Uber drivers as employees

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't all of this also apply to taxis? Taxis pick up at taxi ranks or off the street. Taxis have regulations set by an organisation. Taxis (in most places) have rules that say they must take the most efficient route. In most places, taxis aren't allowed to refuse a customer based on destination. Does that mean that a taxi driver is an employee? Of course not.

...aren't taxi drivers employees?

I am from Brazil, here taxi drivers usually own the medallion and the cab...

The medallions is suppposed to be nontransferrable and free, you would only need to pass some certification tests, but there are ridiculous levels of corruption, and a pinch of violence here and there (For example drivers in certain spots violently banning others from using the same spots, even with guns if they think is needed).

Here Taxi Mafia runs strong, but is still made of individuals, not companies.

Re: Highest French court reclassifies Uber drivers as employees

#74
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dispatch company - the company which, generally, has their name painted on the side of the taxi.

I don’t think most taxi drivers have a connection to any ‘dispatch company’ they just pick up fares as they drive around.

I am purely speaking from my own experience and I can't speak absolutely... but every city I've ever lived in has had a few random cabbies driving around that are far outnumbered by the cab companies - whether this is yellow cab or something random like Boston's Metro Cab[1]. If you ever need to call and schedule a cab to the airport you'll be calling into a dispatch center - rather than just arranging it with a dude. My impression is that street hires are a pretty small proportion of the taxi market.

1. http://metro-cab.com/

Re: Highest French court reclassifies Uber drivers as employees

#75
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's the obvious choice of the dispatch company they work for.

I don’t think all taxi drivers work with a dispatch company. Most just pick people up at the side of the road don’t they?

No… no, they don't. O-o

Re: Highest French court reclassifies Uber drivers as employees

#76
post #59

All of this is a legal system that has a square hole and a circular hole not knowing what to do with a triangular peg. Governments job is to realize that this is a new category of work and create laws specifically to address it.

why does the government need to bend backwards to allow underpaid jobs ?

If people voluntarily choose those jobs then doesn't that mean those jobs are better than the alternatives they have? It also provides a pretty nice service.

Re: Highest French court reclassifies Uber drivers as employees

#77
post #59

All of this is a legal system that has a square hole and a circular hole not knowing what to do with a triangular peg. Governments job is to realize that this is a new category of work and create laws specifically to address it.

why does the government need to bend backwards to allow underpaid jobs ?

Clearly the drivers are paid enough to be willing to do it.

Re: Highest French court reclassifies Uber drivers as employees

#78
post #13

Seems a fair judgement since all the restriction make the drivers effectively work as employees: > Drivers who use the Uber application do not build up their own clientele, do not freely set their rates, and do not determine the terms and conditions of providing their transportation service. The company imposes the itinerary and the driver’s fare is adjusted if this itinerary is not followed. The destination is unkno…

Doesn't all of this also apply to taxis? Taxis pick up at taxi ranks or off the street. Taxis have regulations set by an organisation. Taxis (in most places) have rules that say they must take the most efficient route. In most places, taxis aren't allowed to refuse a customer based on destination. Does that mean that a taxi driver is an employee? Of course not.

Aren't most taxi drivers customers? They rent the car and the privilege of branding their vehicles from the taxi company.

Re: Highest French court reclassifies Uber drivers as employees

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Traditional taxi drivers own their taxi medallions and may transfer those medallions to other drivers, which provides one key aspect of their "independent" contractor state: If the cab company mistreats them, they can take their medallion elsewhere. Uber's model prohibits drivers from subcontracting (transferring) their rides to others, which pierces the veil of 'independent contractor': either a contractor can subco…

> either a contractor can subcontract, or they're not a contractor. This doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. I often work as a contractor. If I decided one morning to send a friend into a clients office to fulfil my duties, I would not even expect them to be able to gain entry to the building.

I would argue you aren't a contractor then

Re: Highest French court reclassifies Uber drivers as employees

#80
post #6
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you jump to this conclusion?

Is there such a thing as an employee with random hours? Isn't the whole point of an employee that there is an expectation of regular work?

Sure, how about people who work for Amazon warehouses? They don't have regular shifts or hours... They have to answer a notification on an app in order to secure a shift for the following day.
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