The Uberpocalypse

kinger101

michaels wrote: »

I don't really get this. If you can choose your own hours and work for other people at the same time, in what way are you an employee?

There were many factors taken into consideration, a number of which led the judges to conclude the drivers were not self-employed. A major one was that the drivers themselves are not free to negotiate with the passengers. They merely drive them between two agreed points for a fixed price. The judges also decided the contract for transport was between Uber and the passanger. The driver cannot have struck a contract with a passenger they'd not actually met, and had no idea of where they are actually going until they've picked them up.

michaels

kinger101 wrote: »

There were many factors taken into consideration, a number of which led the judges to conclude the drivers were not self-employed. A major one was that the drivers themselves are not free to negotiate with the passengers. They merely drive them between two agreed points for a fixed price. The judges also decided the contract for transport was between Uber and the passanger. The driver cannot have struck a contract with a passenger they'd not actually met, and had no idea of where they are actually going until they've picked them up.

Once an uber driver is 'logged on' do they then have to take whatever job the uber system allocates them or can they accept/reject trips or even bid for trips?

silvercar

Google something like 'my life as an uber driver' and there are plenty of blogs from drivers.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

michaels wrote: »

Once an uber driver is 'logged on' do they then have to take whatever job the uber system allocates them or can they accept/reject trips or even bid for trips?

Details here....

http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/money/money-tips/how-to-become-an-uber-driver-and-what-you-could-earn-11364045373669

Sounds a lot like a self-employed cabbie to me.

daveyjp

From that link:

"Uber dishes out wages, minus its fee, on a weekly basis"

sounds a lot like being employed to me. The tribunal appear to agree.

ging84

If you see each uber driver as a small franchise owner things are a little different, unless you are suggesting subway should be investigated as sandwich price fixing cartel the price fixing argument goes out the window.

If a franchisee doesn't make much money, should the franchisor be expected to bump up thier earnings to minimum wage ? What if they run at a significant loss?

Thrugelmir

ging84 wrote: »

If a franchisee doesn't make much money, should the franchisor be expected to bump up thier earnings to minimum wage ? What if they run at a significant loss?

Not comparable models. The franchisee though has to meet employment regulations for themselves including paying the minimum wage.

kinger101

michaels wrote: »

Once an uber driver is 'logged on' do they then have to take whatever job the uber system allocates them or can they accept/reject trips or even bid for trips?

It's accept or reject a pick-up as far as I'm aware. They don't know who the customer is. Or where they are going. And there is no bidding. They get 10 seconds to accept. If they reject trips, they get logged out.

Many of the drivers were on well below the minimum wage. I don't like "self-employment" models being used to exploit unskilled workers. It's alright saying no-one is forcing them into this, but sometimes there's little else available. If people need to get from A to B they can pay a fair price. Effectively, all this Uber and Yodel are doing is making drivers reliant on tax credits.

kinger101

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Details here....

http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/money/money-tips/how-to-become-an-uber-driver-and-what-you-could-earn-11364045373669

Sounds a lot like a self-employed cabbie to me.

There's no single test that is used. The Uber cabbie cannot subcontract. The Uber cabbie cannot directly strike their own contracts. These would indicate they are not self-employed. I agree this is very borderline, but it's certainly a ruling I welcome IMO.

kabayiri

I have noticed that there a number of Uber competitors.

Not all work in the way Uber does. Sidecar allows drivers to bid for fares, so no central pricing control. Curb allows for payment to the driver.

If there was a ruling that allowed drivers to work with multiple suppliers, then I could see how drivers were genuinely self employed.