551–560 of 781 posts
"B test requires that the worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business"
Isn't this a bad test in the first place. Let's take game studios, they need contract developers for a game, wouldn't that make them fail the test and make them an employee?
So if Uber & Lyft lose their appeals, I’m taking bets on how long it will take before they cease operations in California. I’ll set the over/ under starting at 65 days. In all seriousness, I’m not sure they will stop operating completely, but I have a hard time imagining this will be good for a large number of drivers who do it part time, or for consumers. If they have to be employees, then I imagine Uber/Lyft will o…
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For #2, are you suggesting that the drivers would then get the full fare in exchange for the payment for the app? If so, yes, that would clearly be a great, extremely driver-friendly change that would defuse the employee vs contractor controversy... But, I suspect it would also result in layoffs and perhaps lawsuits from the shareholders.
I'm currently interning at a startup called Empower. This is their exact business model, the company provides software, the driver can set their own rates and they get the full fare. The drivers pay a monthly subscription free.
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except uber/lyft will remove you from the platform if you decline too many rides, thereby only giving the illusion of choice.
> except uber/lyft will remove you from the platform if you decline too many rides, thereby only giving the illusion of choice. Factually incorrect for Uber drivers in CA, the platform no longer penalizes drivers for declining trips and now allows them to pick and choose trips without any impact on driver rating. (I worked in Uber Eng up until the 5/18 layoffs)
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You are expecting that Uber/Lyft creates an "auction" environment in order for their drivers to be considered contractors? In my world view, an auction is not requirement for a driver to be considered independent. Drivers can: - drive on their own schedule - drive for competing ride share services (concurrently even) - drive for themselves - not drive at all Seems very independent contractor. Uber/Lyft created a mark…
Part of the whole argument is not only whether drivers are technically employees or contractor but also whether Uber/Lyft are stretching those category so much that neither is a good fit for the situation. As far as I understand one of the problems is that the drivers' market is so saturated that both Uber and Lyft can act as if they where monopolies (or maybe monopsonies). They can technically move to a competitor b…
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Some things, like not being able to set their own rates, meant drivers were never contractors, even if they wanted the perks of contracting (e.g, choose your own hours). Saying 'I wish to be a contractor' isn't legally sufficient: the agreement needs to permit setting rates.
I don't know where this meme started. Taxi drivers have never set their own rates and have always been contractors.
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An employee working 10 hours a week is already a thing, it's called part-time work. Part time employees have fewer benefits and exist in many industries, e.g. food service. A weekend barista at Starbucks is not an independent contractor.
A weekend barista is only comparable to a gig economy driver the day that they can decide on a whim to show up to work for an hour or take a 2 week break unannounced, bail in the middle of a shift, or skip a shift altogether with no repercussions.
The judge does not understand what a "gig" is. Uber drivers can choose to drive one, twelve, or zero hours in any given day. They can suddenly stop working by simply not accepting any more ride requests. It's the ultimate remote, self-directed, self-managed job. An employee can't make such decisions; they do as they are told or they are fired. Uber drivers are private, self-owned businesses that rent out their time a…
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> I can imagine Uber offering jobs v.s. contractor positions with differing levels of support, remuneration, and expectations. Legally, in California, they can't do that. As outlined in the article, the 'ABC test' is the legal test for determining whether someone is an employee or a contractor. The 'B' part of that test is "The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business." If…
You are interpreting it all wrong. Staff augmentation happens all the time who do same work as employees. The fundamental difference is amount of time you are hiring the person for. If you say I need person to augment my existing staff only for 6 months then they need not be employee. This is why many contractors are forced on leave after certain number of months. A contractor may also chose to work, say, 20hr per we…
Edit: Good article and video about how AB5 affects technology consultants: https://www.viodi.tv/2019/11/15/will-ab5-drive-software-engi...