Uber Drivers Are Independent Contractors, Not Employees, Judge Rules (reuters.com)

Uber drivers are independent contractors, not full-time employees of the ride-hailing company, a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled in what is said to be the first classification of Uber drivers under federal law. Reuters reports: U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson on Wednesday said San Francisco-based Uber does not exert enough control over drivers for its limo service, UberBLACK, to be considered their employer under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The drivers work when they want to and are free to nap, run personal errands, or smoke cigarettes in between rides, Baylson said. Jeremy Abay, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he would appeal the ruling to the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 3rd Circuit would be the first federal appeals court to consider whether Uber drivers are properly classified as independent contractors.

Comments

What Will the IRS Say?

[Anonymous Coward]

The IRS has a complex definition of who is an employee vs who is an independent contractor. There is a form SS-8 - Determination of Worker Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding with 47 detailed questions to determine precisely what the status of a worker is. This is important for tax purposes because the IRS expects the Social Security and Medicare taxes to be paid, at least in part, by the employer or else be paid by the independent contractor under the self employment rules. What if the court says that they're not employees but the IRS argues that they are and that Uber owes them back taxes?

Re:Think we're going to get a legal definition soo

[alvinrod]

It doesn't matter if Uber ultimately loses. They'll just make the minimum necessary changes so that they no longer have any employees. It's similar to how after the ACA was passed, some people suddenly found themselves working 29 hours per week because their employers didn't want full time employees and the additional requirements that entailed.

If you want to ensure that gig economy workers have the best wages and conditions, make sure that there are a large number of gig economy service providers competing with each other.

perspective

[rmdingler]

Let's say you didn't get the head start (college education) a modestly wealthy family could've afforded you... let's say over and above the hours the wages the job you are qualified to do provides, you can taxi the more fortunate to their destination in order to make your bills more closely resemble your income.

Are you hoping for government regulation that diminishes your ability to work yourself and your family into solvency and regular groceries?

Price fixing?

[duckintheface]

I think they are clearly employees, but if they are independent contractors, they then have the right to set their own prices for work. If Uber is making all its "contractors" charge the same fee, that's called price fixing and it's illegal.

Re:Think we're going to get a legal definition soo

[technosaurus]

IANAL, but As a general rule of thumb, if a person is not allowed to subcontract the work, they are considered an employee... I am pretty sure subcontracting is not allowed... ergo - more rulings to come.

The right wing has been stacking the courts

[rsilvergun]

since Reagan, so I'm not surprised. They've taken a top down approach to government, and bought it all.

Mark my words, everybody on this forum, you're next. They Uber rich (pun intended) are coming for your wages, your benefits, your retirement and your property. And why shouldn't they? You keep going to the polls and giving it to them.

Re:Public school teachers

[ShanghaiBill]

a high chance of being shot to death?

Schools are very safe. A child in America is far more likely to be shot at home. If you have been led to believe otherwise, you should reexamine your news sources.

You're falling for right wing identity politics

[rsilvergun]

the modern American left isn't about any of that. They're about sound economic policy, to wit:

a. Medicare for all.

b. End the wars.

c. College for all.

d. New New Deal.

e. Infrastructure spending.

f. Living Wage.

The right likes to find our crazies and give them megaphones. It's easy to do because the American right wing owns the media. Ask yourself how often you hear a serious discussion of left wing economic ideas on TV. You don't. Don't be fooled by the right wing media and their cheap identity politics.

Re:You're falling for right wing identity politics

[DNS-and-BIND]

The American right wing owns the media. OK. LOL! What, like the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, and all the rest? Those are all right wing? OK buddy, sure. I think you represent some kind of tiny splinter group that has zero traction. The Left is about sound economic policies? It's about borrow and spend to buy votes.

Right wing identity politics! OMG the Left invented identity politics and used it as a club to beat the crap out of us. It worked, too. They encouraged the BLM riots and cheered as people were attacked and neighborhoods burned. They encourage and PAID thugs to attack Trump supporters at rallies. They celebrated paid goons and Antifa shutting down free speech. America is more divided than ever, and the Left is at the forefront of it all.