Category Archives: Employment status

employees, Employment status

Uber Class Action Lawsuit. Are Drivers Eligible for Workers’ Compensation Benefits?

Photo credit: Art By Doc via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
Photo credit: Art By Doc via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Today’s post was shared by Workers Comp News and comes from www.jdsupra.com

Recently, the ride-sharing program, Uber decided to settle two major class-actions lawsuits, filed in California and Massachusetts. These cases will help define how the company classifies drivers in the future.

The Purpose of the Lawsuits

The drivers in both lawsuits claimed that Uber had misclassified them as independent contractors, when they should have been employees, and that they did so to save money. A switch to hiring employees, rather than relying on independent contractors would have been a major blow to the company’s business model.

Under the terms of the settlement, Uber may continue to classify its drivers as independent contractors. This means that they are not responsible for covering payroll taxes, workers’ unemployment insurance or workers’ compensation for its drivers.

The Implications of the Lawsuits

Although Uber is not responsible for providing workers’ compensation insurance for its drivers, the lawsuits did require some changes. Uber will be paying out 100 million dollars to the drivers involved in the suit and all drivers will now be able to solicit tips from their passengers.

Uber also agreed to assist with the creation of a drivers’ association in the two states where the lawsuits were filed. This is a rare action for a company that considers its drivers to be independent contractors.

Not much information is available about what this association will be responsible for. Uber will be paying for some of the costs of the…

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Employment status

College Football Players Get Approval to Unionize – Workers Compensation Next

Today’s post was shared by Gelman on Workplace Injuries and comes from online.wsj.com

Today’s post is shared from the WSJ.com and highlights a growing trend that student-athletes are employees and will be subject to workers’s compensation mandatory insurance coverage. With head concussion recognition on the rise as a long term medical issue in body contact sport this will be a huge incentuve to eliminate the business of college body contact sports.

CHICAGO—In a decision with potentially broad ramifications for collegiate athletics, the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled Wednesday that Northwestern University scholarship football players are employees of the school and are eligible to form the nation’s first college athletes’ union.

The ruling, which Northwestern immediately said it would appeal, has the potential to upend big-time college sports by reversing the NCAA’s longtime stance that athletes are students first and athletes second. As such, they can’t be considered employees.

In his ruling, Peter Ohr ruled that Northwestern’s scholarship players are athletes first and students second. Their duties to the athletic program include 50 to 60 hours a week during training camp and 40 to 50 hours a week during the three- or four-month football season. For much of the year, players are told by coaches when to eat, sleep and train.

Northwestern University football players with athletic scholarships are employees and can unionize, a National Labor Relations Board regional director ruled Wednesday, contradicting the…

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