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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.
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?
and a generation of shitty educated people we'd have in the long term
As opposed to how it is now?
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.
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.
"He took a duck in the face at 250 knots." -- William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
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.
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.
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The law considers the following things:
Independence in investment in and choice of equipment etc. If the worker uses their own judgement to decide which equipment they want to use, and they buy their equipment, that may be an independent contractor. If the payer chooses and buys the equipment, it's likely an employee using it. In this cass, the employee chooses and buys their own car.
Permanence. Short-term gigs are often contracts. Projects that take more than a year to complete, where the worker is expected to be there long term, are likely employees. People doing Uber while between jobs, or to get some extra holiday cash, look like contractors.
Degree of control. Does the payer specify the outcome (fix my sink) or the exact process?
Financial risk. If the company guarantees exactly $x / hour, no more or less, that's probably an employee. If the worker can make more or less depending on how they choose to run their work, that's probably a contract.
Initiative and judgement. Is the worker following a script provided by the payer, or making their own plans and judgements? Can the Uber driver decide what area to work, based on which part of town they think will make the most money?
Ability to work for others, and actually working for others. Can Uber drivers also drive for Lyft? The plumber I hire to fix my sink also does similar work for other people, so he's a contractor. I have a limited non-compete clause with my employer, so I'm an employee.
I probably forgot one.
The IRS has extensive guidelines. The department of labor has similar ones, but not as extensive. The Supreme Court has enumerated broad considerations in certain cases.
Generally, the word "Independent" in "independent contractor" is important. Does the worker control how they do the work?
With Uber it seems to me people have two viewpoints on the whole thing. Uber advertises "make extra money in your free time". Many drivers see it as a full-time, long-term job.
It seems to me that while *some* people are able figure out the best hours and locations to work in order to do well with it long-term, for most people it's probably better as something you'd do while looking for another job, or only occasionally during surge pricing periods or whatever.
Government is always corrupt, democratic or not, and political corruption always exists, with an edge toward those who can afford to purchase influence.
A government that gives a shit about it's citizens' well being may well be a Utopian goal not practically available to many, especially those for which $45 a week extra for groceries and medicine is a life changing income difference.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
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.
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.
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Gun deaths, including suicides and outside of schools is about 11 per 100,000 people.
Death from diabetes is about 21 per 100,000 people.
Perhaps we should worry more about the lunches and snack machines than the guns. (obviously fix both, but priorities matter before we get hysterical)
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
All kinds of odd things happened...
but for most companies 29 hours was too disruptive.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/fe...
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
In 2015, Uber drivers averaged $19 per hour. That is more than twice the minimum wage.
$19/hour is not too awful as a wage for unskilled work, but $19 as a contracting rate is terrible. IRS mileage rates are around $0.50/mile (expected to cover fuel, maintenance and depreciation on the vehicle), so assuming 20 miles per hour (city driving, lots of stopping) that's $10 gone up front to cover the maintenance, which would not be counted as income for a salaried employee. Now you're looking at $9/hour, and that's before you start covering things like insurance (Uber requires that drivers pay their own insurance for operating a commercial vehicle), health insurance (not part of salary, treated as a separate benefit in the US), and other costs associated with accountancy and overheads for a sole proprietorship.
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The drivers work when they want to and are free to nap, run personal errands, or smoke cigarettes in between rides
Sounds like some of the employees of the company I work for.
Thousands of Americans (and nearly as many H1B Visa holders) are employed as contractors at government agencies.
- They do not get to choose their work locations
- They do not get to choose when or what days they work
- They are required to use specific workstations
- They do not get to choose what tools or software they use
- They rarely have any lattitude in initiative or judgment of their work
- They often spend years, even a decade working on the same contract
- They often perform identical work as the agency employees
"You are not an independent contractor if you perform services that can be controlled by an employer (what will be done and how it will be done)."
If this is the case, nearly ALL the contractors utilized by U.S. government agencies are in fact, disqualified. And this is why, I really don't think they will crack open that can of worms with Uber. Because the spoiled jam that would be released would literally cause a recession.
Across the pond Uber has employees rather than independent contractors.
Perhaps it is easier to buy an American judge?
British panel rules Uber drivers are employees, not contractors