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Uber Drivers Have Rights on Wages and Time Off, UK Panel Rules (apnews.com)
Uber suffered a blow on Friday to its operations in its biggest market outside the United States when a British panel ruled in London rejected the company's argument that its drivers were self employed. The decision, which affirmed a ruling made last year, means that Uber will have to ensure its drivers in Britain are paid a minimum wage and entitled to time off, casting doubt on a common hiring model in the so-called gig economy that relies on workers who do not have a formal contract as permanent employees. From a report: Judge Jennifer Eady rejected Uber's argument that the men were independent contractors, because the drivers had no opportunity to make their own agreements with passengers and the company required them to accept 80 percent of trip requests when they were on duty. The tribunal, Eady wrote in her decision, found "the drivers were integrated into the Uber business of providing transportation services." The ride-hailing service said it has never required drivers in the U.K. to accept 80 percent of the trips offered to them and that drivers make well above the minimum wage. Employment lawyers expect the case to be heard by higher courts as early as next year.
Paid time off is legally mandated for all employed people in the UK.
firemen are paid to wait for the call so why not for other people who provide on call services?
Because firemen are required to wait and Uber drivers aren't.
If I don't eat at McDonald's I don't pay McDonald's.
And if they don't want to serve me food for 2 weeks I'm definitely not paying them for those 2 weeks.
Same is true if I had a meal plan somewhere.
My job (software consultant) says they want me sooo bad they'll pay for me to have 3 weeks off. The US gov doesn't make them do that.
So why is a gov MAKING some businesses PAY for services in exchange for NOTHING?
Another place where we are paying the government for someone else's generosity.
Uber is the one contracting the drivers. The drivers are using their own equipment, at their own cost, and setting their own work schedule.
The drivers no more get to negotiate prices with their passengers than an independent contractor that's hired by a construction firm gets to negotiate their prices with the construction firm's clients.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Damn those socialists for winning weekends off, an eight-hour work day, minimum wage, and banning child labor! What horrible monsters they were!
It has one major problem There is always someone who will take a job for a lower rate than you need.
This lead to unionization, insurance, paid time off etc. etc
A nice example of a circular argument.
If you are employed and at the workplace, you must be paid. Just because the boss doesn't have any work for you to do is irrelevant. If there isn't any work, the boss should send you home.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Ridiculous. Uber did not exist ten years ago. Plus 95% of the population have never used them.
It's hilarious that the US still calls itself "the land of the free"
Mandatory paid time off may be a good idea, but it is not "freedom". It is a restriction on liberty for (arguably) a greater social good.
"Freedom" would leave it up to individuals whether they want vacation, or would prefer shorter daily hours or higher pay. Because that is the tradeoff. The paid vacation is not going to be "free".
In many small towns, the firemen are part time workers who are "on call" from their day job. They only get paid for time spent either training or responding to alarms. They usually keep some equipment, such as extinguishers and first aid kits, in their home or workplace, so they can go directly to a reported problem in their neighborhood, rather than going to the station first. This generally works well, since response time is often the most important factor in an emergency.
Disclaimer: When I was growing up, my dad was a volunteer fireman.
maybe firemen could become hobby pyromaniacs in their spare time, and thus reduce the waiting time . . . ?
They already thought of that. About 100 firefighters a year are convicted as serial arsonists in North America.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
Freedom is more than choice. It's also about what is basic decency
Government enforced decency is not "freedom". It may be a good idea in many cases, but simply using "freedom" as a synonym for "good" is idiotic.
freedom from being mistreated and exploited by employers.
Protection from being mistreated and exploited by employers. Whenever you see the phrase "freedom from" being used, rather than "freedom to", it is almost always being used inappropriately.
In the UK, if you are on-call and required to stay at or close to a workplace, you must be paid. Volunteers have no such constraints.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
who don't take enough rides or who turn down rides that aren't profitable. Uber does lots of stuff to control it's workforce. Sorta like an employer (hmmmm....).
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if Uber didn't tightly control working hours by punishing drivers for not accepting unprofitable trips or not accepting enough trips. Uber has been caught doing both and I imagine a subpoena could find lots of other examples of Uber dangling carrots to force certain behavior if we actually had a working labor board anywhere on earth.
I could probably come up with other reasons why Uber drivers are, for all intents and purposes, employees, but I'll give other's a chance to chime in. Also, you probably don't want to break the employee/employer social contract. Maybe in the UK. In the States it's probably a bad idea. Guns we got, mental health services and a safety net, not so much...
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How is that not on-call?
It is not "on call", because answering the call is completely optional. If a fireman or ambulance driver is "on call", he can lose his job if he doesn't respond. For an Uber driver, there is no repercussion, other than that fare going to someone else.