Uber driver declared employee as the company loses another ruling | Uber | The Guardian

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Uber’s US operation has suffered another legal defeat in its efforts to class its drivers as independent contractors, after a California labour board ruled that a former driver was an employee and so eligible for unemployment benefits. The ruling is particularly significant as it was upheld twice on appeal, once to an administrative law judge and once to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. But as the ruling comes from an administrative board, not a full court, Uber says it “does not have any wider impact or set any formal or binding precedent”, meaning future cases are free to decide differently. The case strikes at the heart of Uber’s business model, which relies on the firm positioning itself as a mere middleman between drivers and passengers. Many analysts have questioned whether the firm would even be sustainable if it was forced to provide standard employee benefits to all its contractors. The decision was handed down by the California Employment Development Depar

Uber driver Karim Amrani sits in his car parked near the San Francisco International Airport parking area in San Francisco. Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP View image in fullscreen Uber driver Karim Amrani sits in his car parked near the San Francisco International Airport parking area in San Francisco. Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP Uber This article is more than 10 years old Uber driver declared employee as the company loses another ruling This article is more than 10 years old Despite two appeals from the taxi firm, the ruling was upheld Alex Hern and agencies Fri 11 Sep 2015 05.23 EDT Last modified on

Uber driver declared employee as the company loses another ruling | Uber | The Guardian

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