TL;DR - There’s a bill on the cards in California that these companies are challenging, which would mean they need to class their drivers as employees, and not contractors. This has various ramifications to do with wage, overtime, sick pay, etc.
Uber and Lyft’s position is that this structure is what allows for the flexibility that the drivers value. But this may not be true - it certainly could be possible that flexibility over working hours could be maintained whilst still classing their workers as employees and providing the legally mandated protections that employees (but crucially, not contractors) have.
Uber and Lyft feel this is an existential threat.
What do you think about it? Is the general understanding of the gig economy misleading and do you think similar changes could happen here in the UK?
The amazing thing about Uber / Lyft is that they drop barriers to entry for cab driving. You don’t need to do the knowledge or work for a cab firm. You can do it part time and earn additional money when it suits you.
You can also “work” for any of the gig economy firms because you’re not tied to any particular one.
These jobs really don’t fit the traditional employment scenario and its tough to have it both ways where you have such amazing flexibility and convenience along with the benefits of normal employment.
