Skip to main content

Uber Drivers Identified as Independent Contractors in Florida


Recently, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity ("DEO") held that Uber drivers are independent contractors and therefore not entitled to unemployment benefits.  The issues arose after Darrin McGillis and Melissa Ewers both wanted to be Uber drivers in Florida.  They downloaded the driver app and started to work for Uber.  However, Uber ultimately revoked McGillis and Ewers' access to the app and they both filed for unemployment benefits.  Initially, the Florida Department of Revenue ruled they were both employees and entitled to benefits.  However, Uber appealed the ruling.  

In the DEO opinion, it was noted that Uber allows drivers to use the app on their own terms.  Drivers can decide when and how long to drive (which gave the drivers "control over the details of their work"...that's a buzz word right there), use their own vehicles for work, choose customers, and can even work for competitors if they choose.  Therefore, Uber argued that it was in essence a "middleman or broker for transportation services", rather than an employer.  

The DEO agreed with this line of reasoning and held "Uber is no more an employer to drivers than is an art gallery to artists."  In this instance, the DEO found little ground to hold that Uber was an employer given the wide range of autonomy that was afforded to Uber drivers:  drivers work when they want, can choose which customers to serve, set their own schedules, have little to no supervision, etc.  Based upon this line of reasoning and the facts presented, the DEO held that Uber drivers are independent contractors rather than employees of Uber.

Note, this fight is not over yet.  McGillis has already filed his appeal of the DEO decision.  Time will tell if Florida courts follow this same line of reasoning.  In any event, put this one in the win column for Uber...for now.


A copy of the DEO opinion can be found here:  miamiherald.typepad.com/files/uber-final-order-12-3-15.pdf

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo
Post a Comment
Read more

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa
Post a Comment
Read more

Utah Non-Compete Bill Falters in House

Last month, a non-compete bill sponsored by Representative Brian Greene (Republican from Pleasant Grove) & up for vote in the Utah House failed to make it through the Legislature.  The bill sought to ban enforcement of non-competes if they came after a worker was already employed, given no compensation (such as a bonus or promotion) for signing the non-compete, and laid off within six months.  However, by a 22 - 49 vote, the bill was resoundingly defeated after some business groups lobbied to kill the non-compete bill.  One group in particular, The Free Enterprise Utah coalition, argued that the Utah State Legislature should hold off on any changes to non compete laws in the state until a survey about non competes was done among Utah businesses.  Representative Greene had countered this claim and argued that a survey was not needed to show that the current non compete laws in the states allowed many businesses, including some small high tech companies in the state, to per
Post a Comment
Read more