Let's say that employees are protected at Tier 1 and independent contractors are protected at Tier 3. Uber proposed a new category of worker with protections at Tier 2, and it claims its workers fit in that category.
I'm fine with the idea of a Tier 2, but I don't think Uber's workers fit in this category.
Uber claims that there are several things that set its workers apart from employees, but the chief things are the ability to set their own schedules and the ability to work for competing companies.
As to the scheduling, there are lots of employees out there who get to set/request their own schedules; it's just that with ride-sharing gigs, it happens at a more granular level. But while they are on the clock, they have very little control over how they get the job done, which is a key differentiator between employees and ICs.
As to working for competing companies, there are lots of employees out there who work more than one job; it's just that with ride-sharing gigs, it happens at a more granular level. But it's not as if any driver is working for Uber and Lyft simultaneously. They don't get paid by both platforms for the same fare. They can be on-call with both platforms at once, but they're only ever getting paid for one at a time. They're just going from one part-time job to another in more rapid intervals than in traditional part-time jobs.
In both cases, the distinction seems more like one of degree than of kind.
What I'd like to see is the creation of a Tier 2, and then phasing out Tier 3, so that independent contractors get Tier 2 labor protections. But Uber/Lyft's workers should be Tier 1 from the start, because they're employees.