Uber’s top lawyer announced in a news conference (H/T NYTimes) that Uber will not treat its drivers, who are independent contractors, as employees under the newly passed California bill. Tony West, Uber chief legal officer, pledged that its drivers will remain independent contractors. Mr. West said Uber’s business is not providing rides but “serving as a technology platform for several different types of digital marketplaces.” He added that the company was “no stranger to legal battles.”
California’s Senate has passed a bill—Assembly Bill 5—that could require Uber, Lyft and gig companies to treat Gig Worker as employees. A similar bill was already passed by California’s Assembly, so the assumption is that soon the bill will become law. What happens then is anyone’s guess. Under the new law, workers in California could generally only be considered independent contractors if the work they do is outside the usual course of a company’s business. Conversely, workers must be employees instead of contractors if a company exerts control over how they perform their tasks, or if their work is part of a company’s regular business.
At this point it apears all parties will be heading to court over the new law.
