After losing a U.K. Supreme Court case, Uber this week announced it would be classifying its U.K. drivers as "workers." This means Uber's 70,000 UK drivers will get a minimum hourly wage, holiday pay, pensions and other benefits.
Unlike the U.S., which has two worker legal classifications - self-employed and employee - the U.K. has three.
The "worker" classification is the 3rd, and "workers" get some, but not all, of the protections and benefits employees in the U.K. receive.
Because of this, the "worker" classification has been described as "a half-way house between being an employee and self-employed."
Despite this move by Uber, its U.K. legal battles are not over.
Uber is applying the minimum wage requirement "after accepting a trip request and after expenses." Uber refers to this as "engaged time" and is not applying the minimum wage to the time a driver waits for a ride.
Not including wait time in the minimum wage payment is a contentious issue.
Uber argues that since many drivers drive for multiple services, they shouldn't pay for wait time. Worker rights groups argue they should.
So it's likely the U.K. courts will have to decide this issue.
We've been against a 3rd way to classify workers in the U.S.
But as we pointed out in our article A Third Way to Classify Workers Gains Momentum, we've changed our minds. This is because California's AB5 legislation and the many classification lawsuits have shown that trying to fit gig work into our current laws doesn't work.
So we now think adding a 3rd way to classify workers is the best way to move forward.
