> Doing so enough times will lead to Uber penalizing the driver.
Apparently it doesn't hurt their profitability worse than not being free to choose their clients would. And I see pretty solid evidence of that: they're using this option extensively, I'd be surprised if they did that despite being worse off as a result.
For the waiter from my example "enough times" changes into "even once".
> Does that sound like a freelancer to you?
Well, I mean, if you were a shop trading on Amazon, and you'd keep on cancelling orders, I can imagine you could even get kicked off the platform.
I'm sure you also don't have much say when it comes to contract terms, the provision etc., and then there's the good ol' star rating just the same.
It doesn't mean Amazon is your employer though.
(By the way, a lot of Uber drivers don't drive for Uber directly. They get contracted by some smaller local company which rents them cars etc. Then even if you argue they should have employee status, it's not on Uber, one should hold that local firm accountable. But this fact is conveniently glossed over, because corporations).
> Obviously, the definition will change depending on the country.
Sure, and that's not just because along with the country comes such and such legislation - there's also the political / lobbying aspect.
When thousands of taxi drivers protest by blocking the capital (which happened in several countries), the powers that be do pay attention. Maybe it shouldn't affect how things turn out at courts, and in a perfect world it doesn't, but I think we all know that in our world it does.
So anyhow I'm not speaking for courts, only sharing how I see these things, trying to apply common sense here. Obviously at the end of the day these matters are settled in courts, but this goes without saying.
Apparently it doesn't hurt their profitability worse than not being free to choose their clients would. And I see pretty solid evidence of that: they're using this option extensively, I'd be surprised if they did that despite being worse off as a result.
For the waiter from my example "enough times" changes into "even once".
> Does that sound like a freelancer to you?
Well, I mean, if you were a shop trading on Amazon, and you'd keep on cancelling orders, I can imagine you could even get kicked off the platform.
I'm sure you also don't have much say when it comes to contract terms, the provision etc., and then there's the good ol' star rating just the same.
It doesn't mean Amazon is your employer though.
(By the way, a lot of Uber drivers don't drive for Uber directly. They get contracted by some smaller local company which rents them cars etc. Then even if you argue they should have employee status, it's not on Uber, one should hold that local firm accountable. But this fact is conveniently glossed over, because corporations).
> Obviously, the definition will change depending on the country.
Sure, and that's not just because along with the country comes such and such legislation - there's also the political / lobbying aspect.
When thousands of taxi drivers protest by blocking the capital (which happened in several countries), the powers that be do pay attention. Maybe it shouldn't affect how things turn out at courts, and in a perfect world it doesn't, but I think we all know that in our world it does.
So anyhow I'm not speaking for courts, only sharing how I see these things, trying to apply common sense here. Obviously at the end of the day these matters are settled in courts, but this goes without saying.