Are the Uber Drivers Self-Employed or Workers? The Uber London Case

Abstract

The U.S. incorporated technology company, Uber Technologies Inc., operating through a network of two companies, projected through written contracts that the Uber driver was a self-employed contractor and the transportation contract was only between the driver and the passenger. Uber claimed to be only a technology and information service provider, acting as an agent of the driver to contract the passenger with the driver. The Uber drivers of London challenged that the written contracts were inconsistent exterior, and in essence and practices, the Uber drivers were workers of Uber, entitled to worker benefits including minimum wages. The student will be exposed to the business model of Uber; explore and apply the agency principle to appraise the claims of inconsistency in the written contracts; apply the principle that control, direction, and supervision is of essence to being a worker to the Uber practices; and project the worker question to the business model of Uber and the platform economy.