4 ms·

People work side jobs all the time where they're considered employees. Nothing is preventing them from doing the same with Uber.

theptip 6y ago
If Uber drivers become employees, I'd expect Uber would have them work fixed schedules rather than have free working hours. They try to incentivize drivers to work during off-hours, but can't specify shifts and have their workers remain classified as ICs. This would make Uber less useful for the workers that want to dip in for an hour or two. Net utility from the change might still be positive as I suspect these days most drivers work something closer to full-time / shifts, but I'd want to see more data on this.
- csa 6y ago
  > If Uber drivers become employees, I'd expect Uber would have them work fixed schedules rather than have free working hours. In California, this is one of the tests of whether someone is an independent contractor or an employee — who dictates the hours worked. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up biting many drivers in the hurt. Uber can easily say “You want employee benefits? No problem. We tell you when to work, and you probably won’t like your schedule.” And the crappy schedule may not be because Uber is being ornery — it may just be when they need drivers.
  - NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
    Bizarre thought experiment: if Uber drivers are employed by Uber; shouldn't independent taxi drivers be employed by the city that licenses them on the same basis? A significant fraction of taxi drivers (>25%) are self-employed. They own their own vehicles and set their own hours of work. In many cases, they're actually obliged by the terms of their licenses to take fares (actually less independent than Uber drivers). The fares they charge are set by their licensing authorities, rather than being negotiable.
    - viscanti 6y ago
      If the argument is that workers should be treated as employees because of the benefits given to employees (like health care), then you could apply that same argument here. The weird thing for me is to see politicians who advocate for universal health care also advocating for more workers being classified as employees. It seems like one of the big benefits of universal health care is that it decouples heath care and earning money, but I rarely see politicians making that argument.
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago
  > Net utility from the change might still be positive as I suspect these days most drivers work something closer to full-time / shifts, but I'd want to see more data on this. You also have to keep in mind that full time minimum wage jobs are more commonly available in the market than jobs with very high flexibility, so we may want to preserve their availability for people who need that. That may even be what the people driving full time are after. Even if you're driving 40 hours a week, if it means you get to do it in weird slices around your kids' schedules, that could be worth the lack of benefits. But require them and you end up scheduled in inflexible 8 hour contiguous blocks and you might as well be working at Walmart.
- simple_phrases 6y ago
  > If Uber drivers become employees, I'd expect Uber would have them work fixed schedules rather than have free working hours. That's a weird expectation, because millions of people work jobs as employees without fixed schedules, and in areas with similar rulings, this doesn't happen with gig workers.

theptip 6y ago

If Uber drivers become employees, I'd expect Uber would have them work fixed schedules rather than have free working hours. They try to incentivize drivers to work during off-hours, but can't specify shifts and have their workers remain classified as ICs. This would make Uber less useful for the workers that want to dip in for an hour or two. Net utility from the change might still be positive as I suspect these days most drivers work something closer to full-time / shifts, but I'd want to see more data on this.

csa 6y ago
> If Uber drivers become employees, I'd expect Uber would have them work fixed schedules rather than have free working hours. In California, this is one of the tests of whether someone is an independent contractor or an employee — who dictates the hours worked. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up biting many drivers in the hurt. Uber can easily say “You want employee benefits? No problem. We tell you when to work, and you probably won’t like your schedule.” And the crappy schedule may not be because Uber is being ornery — it may just be when they need drivers.
- NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
  Bizarre thought experiment: if Uber drivers are employed by Uber; shouldn't independent taxi drivers be employed by the city that licenses them on the same basis? A significant fraction of taxi drivers (>25%) are self-employed. They own their own vehicles and set their own hours of work. In many cases, they're actually obliged by the terms of their licenses to take fares (actually less independent than Uber drivers). The fares they charge are set by their licensing authorities, rather than being negotiable.
  - viscanti 6y ago
    If the argument is that workers should be treated as employees because of the benefits given to employees (like health care), then you could apply that same argument here. The weird thing for me is to see politicians who advocate for universal health care also advocating for more workers being classified as employees. It seems like one of the big benefits of universal health care is that it decouples heath care and earning money, but I rarely see politicians making that argument.
AnthonyMouse 6y ago
> Net utility from the change might still be positive as I suspect these days most drivers work something closer to full-time / shifts, but I'd want to see more data on this. You also have to keep in mind that full time minimum wage jobs are more commonly available in the market than jobs with very high flexibility, so we may want to preserve their availability for people who need that. That may even be what the people driving full time are after. Even if you're driving 40 hours a week, if it means you get to do it in weird slices around your kids' schedules, that could be worth the lack of benefits. But require them and you end up scheduled in inflexible 8 hour contiguous blocks and you might as well be working at Walmart.
simple_phrases 6y ago
> If Uber drivers become employees, I'd expect Uber would have them work fixed schedules rather than have free working hours. That's a weird expectation, because millions of people work jobs as employees without fixed schedules, and in areas with similar rulings, this doesn't happen with gig workers.