Drivers will also be permitted to post small signs explaining that tips are not required, but appreciated. Uber says that it will establish and support two drivers associations in the relevant states, California and Massachusetts, and meet with them quarterly.
Kalanick wrote on Thursday that Uber is taking these steps with an eye toward the future.
“Uber is a new way of working: it’s about people having the freedom to start and stop work when they want, at the push of a button. As we’ve grown we’ve gotten a lot right – but certainly not everything,” he concludes. “But there’s more to do, which is why I’m excited about some other improvements we have planned for the not too distant future. Stay tuned.”
Unless Uber creates some sort of employee-style benefits program, however, more legal challenges may lie ahead.
This lawsuit merely brought the issues of independent contractors to light, but it did not put them to rest. In fact, the independent contractor question is now, perhaps, more in the public eye than ever before.
No court has ruled on whether or not Uber drivers are independent contractors or not, which leaves the matter open to future suits, and perhaps not just for Uber.
As The New York Times noted last September, the 21st century functions on 19th-century labor laws. But legal frameworks suitable for factory workers are not necessarily applicable to today’s remote workers or workers with flexible schedules.
“The debate will not end here,” plaintiff attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan said in a press release. The case “stands as a stern warning to companies who play fast and loose with classifying their workforce as independent contractors,” she wrote, stating that “many companies have chosen to go the other way and not fight this battle.”
Article Appeared @http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2016/0422/Uber-settles-driver-suits-in-test-for-the-sharing-economy