Uber grants provide holiday pay, pensions to UK drivers following court ruling

Uber announced the changes, effective Wednesday, after losing their last claim last month of lower court rulings that gave a group of Uber drivers a sort of UK employment status. falling between employee and self-employed.

The company’s move, which renames Uber drivers in the country as “employees” rather than independent contractors, will make the UK the first place where Uber pays directly for holidays and drivers’ pensions. The company already offers medical insurance in many markets.

Uber’s decision could move labor workers in a global war effort as to whether and how they should grant workers more employment rights in what is often called the economy. , where apps distribute individual tasks to a group of people who are generally appreciated by app makers. as independent contractors.

Late last year, Uber won a major battle in California – its home state – that prevented it from reclassifying its drivers as employees deserving of extensive employment benefits. As part of its win in California, Uber offered some new benefits including health insurance for some drivers. The company offered some of its costs to cyclists in the form of higher prices.

Uber and others are lobbying to make such a model the national standard in the US, and the company has made similar proposals in Europe.

In Europe, meanwhile, Swiss courts have forced UberEats, the company’s food delivery arm, to suspend independent contractors in the Geneva region. Last spring, a former Uber driver was rewritten by a French court as an employee.

On Tuesday, Uber said it hoped its change in the UK would continue with other companies. The move will cover around 70,000 drivers in the UK, one of Uber’s largest markets. The UK accounted for 6.4% of the company’s total registrations for its car business in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to securities filings.

“Uber is just one part of a larger private employment industry, so we hope that all other operators will join us in improving the quality of work of these important employees who are an integral part of our daily lives, ”Said Jamie Heywood, Uber regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe.

Uber was not expected to know as the company had argued last month that the UK court’s ruling did not directly apply to existing drivers, forcing drivers to law line to set up drivers for benefits. An Uber spokesman said Tuesday that the company had decided to make their changes after consulting with their drivers, who wanted the new benefits, and avoiding a wave of law.

Fights are still raging for Uber in the UK over the proposed changes. Uber, for example, says the change in employment status does not cover delivery workers at their UberEats business, saying the food delivery sector operates using a different economic model. – an idea that could be challenged by campaigners.

Uber also says it will calculate a driver’s minimum wage based on when drivers have accepted a ride. An Uber spokesman said the average driver spends most of his time connected to the app on paid trips, and is already making far more than the UK minimum wage of 8.72 British pounds, equivalent to $ 12.11, during that period.

But the UK Supreme Court found in their decision in February that the group of former drivers should have had to work when connected to the Uber app and available for work .

James Farrar, a former Uber driver who was among a small group that brought the original case against Uber, said drivers in particular needed a minimum wage at the time of Covid-19 locks, when a reduction in passenger numbers meant that many drivers found themselves idle for hours.

“Drivers should earn a minimum wage from logon to logoff, not just when holding passengers,” Mr Farrar said in an interview at the end of last year.

An Uber spokesman said the February court decision was based in part on practices Uber ended over years ago, such as punishing drivers who refused repeated trips. Uber has also argued that it would be illegal to give drivers a minimum wage at times when they could be signed in or even paid for by other apps – something more common now than it was in 2016, when the UK issue began.

The other changes outlined by Uber on Tuesday will be given to employees based on their employment. Drivers, for example, will receive a payment of 12.07% of fortnightly earnings, which Uber says accounts for a positive proportion of the 5.6 weeks of vacation to which a full-time employee is entitled. time in the UK.

Uber says it will also add 3% of each driver’s earnings to UK pensions, with drivers eligible below the UK employment threshold adding 5%, unless they opt out.

—Preetika Rana contributed to this article.

Write to Sam Schechner at [email protected] and Parmy Olson at [email protected]