Uber drivers are independent contractors, not employees of the ride-hailing company, the federal labour board’s general counsel said in an opinion released May 14th. This opinion comes on the heels of drivers demanding Uber reclassify them as employees.
The opinion, authored on April 16th by Jayme Sophir, associate general counsel at the National Labor Relations Board, means that drivers will have a much harder time trying to form a union, file labour complaints, or seek protection from the federal government. It states:
Drivers’ virtually complete control of their cars, work schedules, and log-in locations, together with their freedom to work for competitors of Uber, provided them with significant entrepreneurial opportunity. On any given day, at any free moment, UberX drivers could decide how best to serve their economic objectives: by fulfilling ride requests through the App, working for a competing rideshare service, or pursuing a different venture altogether.
This opinion lines up with Uber’s own stance on its drivers. The company classifies them as independent contractors, arguing they are in business for themselves and thus ineligible for traditional benefits like overtime, minimum wage protections, and health insurance.
Some Uber drivers contest that classification, though, and argue that Uber’s algorithm exerts far too much control over their lives to be viewed otherwise. Many have sued Uber, but most of those cases have been sent to private arbitration.
“We are focused on improving the quality and security of independent work while preserving the flexibility drivers and couriers tell us they value,” an Uber spokesperson.
Uber said it had settled with a large majority of the 60,000 drivers in the US who filed arbitration demands over their employment status. Uber said the settlement will cost it between $146 million and $170 million, according to its IPO filing.
