The Status of Uber Drivers: A Purposive Approach

Abstract

Abstract:The status of Uber drivers -the question of whether they are independent contractors (as argued by Uber) or employees -has been the subject of a heated debate recently. The goal of this paper is to address this question at the normative level: what should the law be in this regard? It begins, in part II, by briefly discussing some preliminary issues about how to address the problem: does it make sense to retain the employee/independent contractor distinction at all? Is it justified to maintain an "all or nothing" dichotomy? Should we leave the determination of "who is an employee" to courts? And finally, how should we interpret the term "employee" that appears in legislation? As will become clear, my approach is purposive, and Part III outlines -based on my previous writings -what this means in the context of identifying an employment relationship that justifies the application of labour laws. I will briefly consider several goals of labour law, and suggest that the most useful level of abstraction for current purposes is to focus on the unique vulnerabilities of employment, which I identify as democratic deficits (subordination, broadly conceived) and dependency (economic as well as for social/psychological needs). Finally, part IV applies these general principles to the specific context of Uber drivers, concluding eventually that Uber drivers should be considered employees.

Digitalisation and precarious work practices in alternative economies: Work organisation and work relations in e-cab services

“…This is related to the zero-hours contract wherein the workers are not guaranteed any specific hours of work by the employer and are at the same time basically subject to work at extremely short notice. It thereby portrays a vulnerable market wherein the workers are not covered under minimum wages or overtime payment, and in some shifts, they do not earn any money at all (Aloisi, 2016; Clarke and Urata, 2016; Davidov, 2017). As a new initiative on this front, New York has passed a minimum pay rate of around $17 per hour for drivers working in Uber and Lyft as against the $11.90 earned previously (Ghaffary, 2018).…”

“…There is provision for accident insurance, however its coverage and liability are conflictual. Though some have suggested the creation of ‘portable benefits’ 14 for the workers in the gig economy (Davidov, 2017; Fenwick et al, 2016), in the case of India, it would be problematic as the services are highly scattered and the state also has no record of these service providers. Further, the state’s outlook towards these gig workers is indifferent; it promotes such work to increase the national employment count but pays no attention to basic rights and protection at work.…”

Arbeitskräfte zwischen Autonomie und Kontrolle – Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung auf Arbeitsbeziehungen in der Logistik

“…Die Beispiele von Uber und Uber Freight können angeführt werden, um zu verdeutlichen, welche Veränderungen durch Digitalisierung in den Kooperationsanforderungen und Motivationssettings der Arbeitskräfte entstehen (Chan & Humphreys, 2018;DeBruyne, 2017;Lee, Kusbit, Metsky, & Dabbish, 2015;Malin & Chandler, 2017;Rosenblat & Stark, 2016). Zudem verlaufen hier arbeitsrechtliche Konfliktlinien zu Fragen der Scheinselbstständigkeit und Ausgestaltung der Arbeitsbedingungen (Davidov, 2017). Für den hier betrachteten Bereich der urbanen Lebensmittellogistik kann von einer ähnlichen digitalen Entwicklung in der Zusammenführung von Bestellung (App), Herstellung (Restaurant) und Lieferung (Transport) über einen einheitlichen Workflow ausgegangen werden.…”

Plattformökonomie und Arbeitsbeziehungen: Digitalisierung zwischen imaginierter Zukunft und empirischer Gegenwart

“…Die Beispiele von Uber und Uber Freight können angeführt werden, um zu verdeutlichen, welche Veränderungen durch Digitalisierung in den Kooperationsanforderungen und Motivationssettings der Arbeitskräfte entstehen (Chan & Humphreys, 2018;DeBruyne, 2017;Malin & Chandler, 2017;. Zudem verlaufen hier arbeitsrechtliche Konfliktlinien zu Fragen der Scheinselbstständigkeit und Ausgestaltung der Arbeitsbedingungen (Davidov, 2017). Für den hier betrachteten Bereich der urbanen Lebensmittellogistik kann von einer ähnlichen digitalen Entwicklung in der Zusammenführung von Bestellung (App), Herstellung (Restaurant) und Lieferung (Transport) über einen einheitlichen Workflow ausgegangen werden.…”