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Brazil Judge Rules Uber Drivers Are Employees, Deserve Benefits (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader shares a Reuters report: A Brazilian judge ruled that a driver using the Uber ride-hailing app is an employee of the San Francisco-based company and is entitled to workers' benefits, adding to the global debate over labor rights for drivers on the platform. Uber said on Tuesday it would appeal the decision by Judge Marcio Toledo Goncalves, who issued the ruling late Monday in a labor court in Minas Gerais state. Goncalves ordered Uber to pay one driver around 30,000 reais ($10,000) in compensation for overtime, night shifts, holidays and expenses such as gasoline, water and candy for passengers. The consequences for Uber, if the ruling is upheld, could be far greater if more drivers follow suit and if state and federal regulators and tax agencies start treating it, as the judge suggested, as a transportation company rather than a tech firm.
The way I see it, Uber isn't a taxi company. Uber provides a platform as a service allowing service providers (ride share drivers) to find customers (passengers). The service providers might count as independent taxi drivers and thus be taxi companies themselves.
Drivers can't set prices, can't turn down (too many) customers, can't drive whatever car they want, etc. Uber drivers aren't contractors.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Brazilian labor law is *designed* to catch all attempts at doing what Uber does, really.
To Brazilian law, if you do *anything* paid that looks like being employed more than X hours per week for a long enough period for the same company, you *are* employed, and they are in a very very bad position for trying to dodge labor law. Also, in labor issues, the employer is *presumed guilty* and *has to prove its innocence*. It is absolutely the *only* instance in the entire Brazilian law where this happens (in all other cases, whomever is being accused of a crime is presumed innocent).
This is true even if you did the paid work under a contract for services rendered (as in person-to-business contract, not b2b contract, and no, a micro-business with just one or two people is NOT going to fly as a b2b situation), unless you are one of the few professions that are in a white list (teachers, engineers, doctors, lawyers, and a few others) -- and those pay a lot of income tax, so everyone would rather find a way to do it b2b anyway.
You want to hire someone for just a short period, there is a lawful labor contract for that exact situation, too.
What Uber does is simply unlawful. They'd have to limit the drivers to a few "runs" per week, and enforce that they also work for several other businesses (!!!) to avoid being considered an employer of their drivers.
Everyone in Brazil saw that coming. Likely even Uber lawyers, which now will get even more money and Uber will still get even more screwed ;-)