Things seem to be going from bad to worse, for the US based Tech/Taxi firm as it just lost an appeal against a ruling that its drivers should be classed as workers rather than self-employed.
Last year, a tribunal ruled drivers, James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam, were Uber staff and entitled to holiday pay, paid rest breaks and the minimum wage.
Uber appealed, and tried to argue that its drivers were self employed and were under no obligation to use its booking app. Which meant that employment rights did not apply in the same way.
Additionally, Uber has claimed that 80% of its drivers would rather be classed as self employed. But did not clarify how the data was collected. As Uber has been known to employ a very strict corporate culture among its employees.
Every week in London, 30,000 people download Uber to their phones and order a car for the first time. The technology company, which is worth $60bn and has deployed its ride-hailing platform in 400 cities around the world since its launch in San Francisco on 31 May 2010.
As it stands Uber is attempting to renew its London license following the announcement last month by the TFL. Controversy is surrounding the Tech giant and has been fighting court battles in the UK and USA, about equal rights and employment rights for drivers.
Earlier this year Uber acknowledged that they under-invested in the driver experience are now re-examining everything we do in order to rebuild that love. However Uber uses mind tricks and algorithms to entice drivers to work longer.
To keep drivers on the road, the company has exploited some people’s tendency to set earnings goals — alerting them that they are ever so close to hitting a precious target when they try to log off. It has even concocted an algorithm similar to a Netflix feature that automatically loads the next program, which many experts believe encourages binge-watching. In Uber’s case, this means sending drivers their next fare opportunity before their current ride is even over.
With such a tough and aggressive working culture employed by the Tech giant, surely workers rights should be something they should champion. And being forced to address these issues is not the same as doing them on your own accord, as company policy.
