Slashdot Mirror
Limo Firm To Uber: You Misclassify Your Drivers As Contractors, Which Is Unfair (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A Southern California limousine company sued Uber in federal court earlier this week, alleging violations of state unfair-competition laws. While a company suing Uber is not new, the proposed class-action lawsuit appears to rely on a recently decided California Supreme Court decision that makes it more difficult for companies to unilaterally declare their workers as contractors, which effectively deprives them of benefits that they would otherwise receive as employees.
In that case, known as Dynamex, the court came up with a three-part test to figure out whether companies can assert contractor status or not. The new case is called Diva Limousine v. Uber. Some legal experts say that the earlier decision in Dynamex may bolster an argument in this new case around unfair competition that has previously been difficult to win on in federal court. In short, Diva Limousine just might succeed where other federal lawsuits have failed.
In that case, known as Dynamex, the court came up with a three-part test to figure out whether companies can assert contractor status or not. The new case is called Diva Limousine v. Uber. Some legal experts say that the earlier decision in Dynamex may bolster an argument in this new case around unfair competition that has previously been difficult to win on in federal court. In short, Diva Limousine just might succeed where other federal lawsuits have failed.
I find it way preferable to take contract gigs than FTE (full time employee) gigs. Granted, the FTE gigs typically offer an order of magnitude more pay, but all that stock/equity is inevitably tied up in a year or more of service. But as a contractor, you get paid exactly for the hours you put it and can leave whenever you want. They may not let you go to the employee movie days, but I've always had the nicest bosses as a contractor (probably because they're good bosses, but they're also aware senior contractors can walk if treated very poorly).
Best of all, the IP agreements are actually sane because you're not an employee. I hate when FTE contracts try to claim all of your side projects as the company's inventions, sometimes even retroactively.
Anyway, I know that contracting isn't a good fit for everyone, but I hope this doesn't end make up making it harder for those who do like the contract lifestyle.