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Uber drivers are workers not self employed, Supreme Court rules

bbc.co.uk

31–40 of 387 posts

Re: Uber drivers are workers not self employed, Supreme Court rules

#31

I don't know anything about how the law works, but it seems to accord with the reality of how people tend to think of jobs. Have you ever met an Uber driver who didn't give the impression that this was what he did all the time? I haven't, though I imagine not everyone is full time. It's quite a way from the idea that anyone with a car can give someone else a ride. For instance, I've never met a driver who happened to…

So Uber really is more like a huge Taxi company with freelance drivers and an app.

Re: Uber drivers are workers not self employed, Supreme Court rules

#32
post #3

The title of the article is something I'd expect to see in a comedy movie. Yet, this is real.

No one suggested that driving a cab is not work. The ruling was about whether they are employed by Uber or self-employed contractors.

Re: Uber drivers are workers not self employed, Supreme Court rules

#34
post #6

The court made very specific arguments: 1. Uber set the fare which meant that they dictated how much drivers could earn 2. Uber set the contract terms and drivers had no say in them 3. Request for rides is constrained by Uber who can penalise drivers if they reject too many rides 4. Uber monitors a driver's service through the star rating and has the capacity to terminate the relationship if after repeated warnings t…

This doesn't make sense to me. I did some contract work a couple years ago and: 1. The company set the hourly rate which meant they dictated how much I could earn 2. The company set the contract terms 3. The company told me what features to build and could penalize me if I decided not to build some 4. The company could evaluate my performance any way they wanted and terminate the contract at any time for no cause If…

I'm IT contractor and this is exactly how it works.

Re: Uber drivers are workers not self employed, Supreme Court rules

#35
post #6

The court made very specific arguments: 1. Uber set the fare which meant that they dictated how much drivers could earn 2. Uber set the contract terms and drivers had no say in them 3. Request for rides is constrained by Uber who can penalise drivers if they reject too many rides 4. Uber monitors a driver's service through the star rating and has the capacity to terminate the relationship if after repeated warnings t…

This doesn't make sense to me. I did some contract work a couple years ago and: 1. The company set the hourly rate which meant they dictated how much I could earn 2. The company set the contract terms 3. The company told me what features to build and could penalize me if I decided not to build some 4. The company could evaluate my performance any way they wanted and terminate the contract at any time for no cause If…

>> 1. The company set the hourly rate which meant they dictated how much I could earn

This rate would have been negotiated by you. You then agreed to a specific rate.

The price of Uber rides varies based on demand so the driver doesn't know the price in advance + even if they did they are not allowed to refuse the ride.

Re: Uber drivers are workers not self employed, Supreme Court rules

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't make sense to me. I did some contract work a couple years ago and: 1. The company set the hourly rate which meant they dictated how much I could earn 2. The company set the contract terms 3. The company told me what features to build and could penalize me if I decided not to build some 4. The company could evaluate my performance any way they wanted and terminate the contract at any time for no cause If…

If you truly are a contractor you have the opportunity to negotiate over your hourly rate and terms of works.

No, very often it's a yes/no and there are many people in the line behind you who will take the job.

Re: Uber drivers are workers not self employed, Supreme Court rules

#37
post #6

The court made very specific arguments: 1. Uber set the fare which meant that they dictated how much drivers could earn 2. Uber set the contract terms and drivers had no say in them 3. Request for rides is constrained by Uber who can penalise drivers if they reject too many rides 4. Uber monitors a driver's service through the star rating and has the capacity to terminate the relationship if after repeated warnings t…

This doesn't make sense to me. I did some contract work a couple years ago and: 1. The company set the hourly rate which meant they dictated how much I could earn 2. The company set the contract terms 3. The company told me what features to build and could penalize me if I decided not to build some 4. The company could evaluate my performance any way they wanted and terminate the contract at any time for no cause If…

The question the court is asking is "why can't the drivers?". Uber is claiming to be a third party here.

Re: Uber drivers are workers not self employed, Supreme Court rules

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't make sense to me. I did some contract work a couple years ago and: 1. The company set the hourly rate which meant they dictated how much I could earn 2. The company set the contract terms 3. The company told me what features to build and could penalize me if I decided not to build some 4. The company could evaluate my performance any way they wanted and terminate the contract at any time for no cause If…

If you truly are a contractor you have the opportunity to negotiate over your hourly rate and terms of works.

I did have that opportunity, as does an Uber driver. But, as is the case in any negotiation, the counterparty has the right to hold firm on the price.

Re: Uber drivers are workers not self employed, Supreme Court rules

#39

I don't know anything about how the law works, but it seems to accord with the reality of how people tend to think of jobs. Have you ever met an Uber driver who didn't give the impression that this was what he did all the time? I haven't, though I imagine not everyone is full time. It's quite a way from the idea that anyone with a car can give someone else a ride. For instance, I've never met a driver who happened to…

Is whether someone “does it all day” a factor in determining if they are a employee versus contractor?

Plenty of contractors work all day long.

Re: Uber drivers are workers not self employed, Supreme Court rules

#40
post #10

Really interested to see what this does to Deliveroo. I live in central London on a pretty busy street and it's really wild how many Deliveroo drivers there are. In front of most of the popular takeaway restaurants there are 3-5 drivers waiting at any given time. The increase in delivery and decrease in normal foot traffic during the pandemic has made this really stick out. Deliveroo already totally robs these restau…

I feel really bad for small restaurant owners. These large delivery companies totally take over their internet marketing too, registering a domain like '-.com' and when you go to that website, you really have to pay attention to see that this is not the 'official' restaurant website and if you order through there, it's costing the restaurant a lot of money that they wouldn't miss out on if you'd order through their regular website. I don't understand how practices like that are legal - then again, small restaurant owners have other things to worry about than fighting a 5, 8, maybe 10 year trademark battle against huge tech companies. It's a disgusting abuse of power in my view.
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