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  • Uber Drivers Granted Class Action in ‘Employee or Contractor’ Suit

    Uber Drivers Granted Class Action in ‘Employee or Contractor’ Suit

    There’s been an important development in a lawsuit brought against Uber over the much-publicized tensions between the company’s insistence that its drivers are independent contractors and some drivers’ claim that they are employees.

    A US District Judge has ruled that it may continue as a class action.

    “The court concludes that a number of Uber’s class certification arguments are problematic,” wrote Judge Edward M. Chen There’s “simply no basis” to Uber’s claim “that some innumerable legion of drivers prefer to remain independent contractors rather than become employees.”

    The court has narrowed the class a bit, however.

    Here’s the specific class the court certifies:

    All UberBlack, UberX, and UberSUV drivers who have driven for Uber in the state of California at any time since August 16, 2009, and who (1) signed up to drive directly with Uber or an Uber subsidiary under their individual name, and (2) are/were paid by Uber or an Uber subsidiary directly and in their individual name, and (3) did not electronically accept any contract with Uber or one of Uber’s subsidiaries which contains the notice and opt-out provisions previously ordered by this Court (including those contracts listed in the Appendix to this Order), unless the driver timely opted-out of that contract’s arbitration agreement.

    The lawsuit, which was filed in 2013 and fought by Uber all the way, questions the company’s classification of its drivers. The class of drivers says it should be considered employees, not contractors, which would entitle them to things like reimbursement of expenses, minimum wage, overtime pay, and more.

    Uber’s stance has always been that it’s a software company. Uber connects people wanting a ride to those offering a ride. It’s a logistics company. Uber simply connects third-party contractors with customers. Its drivers are independent contractors, not employees.

    The company says it will appeal this ruling.

    Recently, in a move that gave weight to the drivers’ position, the California Labor Commission ruled that an Uber driver was an actual employee – as Uber is “involved in every aspect of the operation.”

    And last month, another driver in California sued Uber over the same issue.

    Last month, UK union GMB, which represents professional drivers, has engaged a law firm to file suit against Uber “on the grounds that Uber is in breach of a legal duty to provide them with basic rights on pay, holidays, health and safety and on discipline and grievances.”

    This issue is clearly not going away. And this particular class action case will probably stretch on into eternity.

  • Uber Facing Another Lawsuit from Driver Who Claims Employee Status

    Uber is once again facing a lawsuit from a driver who says he should be treated as an employee, rather than an independent contractor.

    A Los Angeles man named Greg Fisher has sued Uber in California Northern District Court. He claims that Uber owes him unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime, and other damages.

    According to Fisher, Uber owes him this under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which covers employees in both the public and private sector.

    Of course, the issues here is that Uber does not see its drivers as employees.

    Uber’s stance has always been that it’s a software company. Uber connects people wanting a ride to those offering a ride. It’s a logistics company. Uber simply connects third-party contractors with customers. Its drivers are independent contractors, not employees.

    Earlier this year, the California Labor Commission ruled that an Uber driver was an actual employee – as Uber is “involved in every aspect of the operation.”

    “One of the main reasons drivers use Uber is because they love being their own boss,” said Uber in response. “As employees, drivers would drive set shifts, earn a fixed hourly wage, and lose the ability to drive elsewhere. The reality is that drivers use Uber on their own terms: they control their use of the app.”

    But the lawsuits keep piling up.

    Last month, UK union GMB, which represents professional drivers, has engaged a law firm to file suit against Uber “on the grounds that Uber is in breach of a legal duty to provide them with basic rights on pay, holidays, health and safety and on discipline and grievances.”

    Mr. Fisher is seeking class action status for his lawsuit.

  • Being A Yelp Reviewer Doesn’t Make You A Yelp Employee , Rules Federal Judge

    It’s hard to believe that anybody thinks Yelp should pay them for the reviews they write, but some do, and some even banded together in a class action lawsuit against the company to try and seek out wages for reviews posted.

    The suit was filed last year by reviewers who claimed they should be paid for performing “the exact same work” that people who are paid by Yelp do.

    “This is a lawsuit merely to provide the wages to all writers of Yelp and not just the ones which Yelp, Inc. chooses to pay in wages,” the complaint said.

    A federal judge has now ruled that reviewers are volunteers, not employees (Duh.), and dismissed the suit. Courthouse News Service reports (via Consumerist):

    Lead plaintiff Lily Jeung complained she was “hired” by Yelp, that Yelp controls reviewers’ “work schedule and conditions” and that two of the three named plaintiffs were “fired” with “no warning and a flimsy explanation.”
     
    Seeborg found the plaintiffs “use the term ‘hired’ to refer to a process by which any member of the public can sign up for an account on the Yelp website and submit reviews, and the term ‘fired’ to refer to having their accounts involuntarily closed, presumably for conduct that Yelp contends breached its terms of service agreement.”
     
    But the reviewers’ contributions to the site “at most would constitute acts of volunteerism,” he wrote.

    Yelp finds itself at the center of a lot of different kinds of lawsuits, but this is one of the sillier ones if not the silliest. To think that anyone could sign up for a Yelp account and post reviews and just expect to be compensated as an employee is laughable, and it’s good to see that the court basically agreed.

    Image via Yelp (Flickr)

  • Apple Reveals Modest Improvement in Employee Diversity

    Apple Reveals Modest Improvement in Employee Diversity

    Last year, when Apple released its first ever diversity report, the company revealed that its workforce was 70 percent male and 55 percent white. Of course, this didn’t set Apple apart from any other major tech company – everyone in Silicon Valley has been struggling with diversity.

    Tim Cook said he was not happy with that.

    “Let me say up front: As CEO, I’m not satisfied with the numbers on this page. They’re not new to us, and we’ve been working hard for quite some time to improve them. We are making progress, and we’re committed to being as innovative in advancing diversity as we are in developing our products,” he said in August of 2014.

    So, how have they done over the past year?

    As with Facebook’s latest report on its progress, the feeling is meh.

    As of August of 2015, Apple is 69 percent male and 54 percent white.

    The silver lining, according to Apple, is that it’s hired “more diverse candidates than in any other year to date.” This includes, in the new hires, 35 percent women, 19 percent Asian, 13 percent Hispanic, and 11 percent Black.

    “We are proud of the progress we’ve made, and our commitment to diversity is unwavering. But we know there is a lot more work to be done,” says Tim Cook.

    “Some people will read this page and see our progress. Others will recognize how much farther we have to go. We see both. And more important than these statistics, we see tens of thousands of Apple employees all over the world, speaking dozens of languages, working together. We celebrate their differences and the many benefits we and our customers enjoy as a result.”

    In March, Apple donated $50 million to further racial and gender diversity.

    “Diversity is critical to innovation and it is essential to Apple’s future. We aspire to do more than just make our company as diverse as the talent available to hire. We must address the broad underlying challenges, offer new opportunities, and create a future generation of employees as diverse as the world around us. We also aspire to make a difference beyond Apple,” says Cook.

    Image via Apple

  • Google Is the Best Company to Work for, According to Employees

    In the seventh iteration of employer-review site Glassdoor’s Best Place to Work list, Google finally takes the top spot.

    According to Glassdoor, it’s Google’s benefits, salary, and overall treatment of employees that puts it a notch above the rest. With thousands of reviews from both current and former employees, Google notched a 4.5 out of 5 rating. The company was #8 on the list last year,

    The rest of the top 10 is devoid of other big-name tech companies, including the likes of Bain & Company, Nestle, Boston Consulting Group, Chevron, In-N-Out Burger, and the Mayo Clinic.

    You have to go all the way down to #13 to find Facebook.

    Many high-profile tech companies fell significantly in the past year. LinkedIn, which held the #3 spot last year, holds this year’s 23rd spot. Twitter, which was last year’s #2 company to work for, doesn’t even crack the top 50 this year.

    Apple seems to be the exception, rising to #22 from #35 a year ago.

    Thinking about landing a job at Google, since it’s apparently such a wonderful place to work? You might want to reconsider. You probably not prepared to interview at Google.

    Image via Google