Uber Appeals Class Certification in Wage and Hour Class Action

Uber Technologies Inc. has appealed a court decision to grant class certification to a group of drivers that claim they should be considered employees rather than independent contractors.

Attorneys for Uber allege that U.S District Judge Edward Chen did not take into account the wide range of agreements the transportation network company has set-up with their drivers, which suggests immense differences between class members. 

The defendant’s legal team also claims that Judge Chen dismissed more than 400 driver statements arguing against employment status. According to these statements from Uber, hundreds of drivers intentionally entered into a independent contractor relationship with the mobile app company and do not seek to become Uber employees.

While Judge Chen did admit that California labor laws don’t apply perfectly to the situation facing Uber drivers, the judge is intent on letting a jury decide whether drivers are independent contractors or employees of Uber.

The federal judge has certified a class of Uber drivers who have worked with the company from 2009 until the spring of 2014. Chen stated that based on Uber’s arbitration agreement, drivers who signed up with the company from summer 2014 to the present will not be allowed to join the Uber class action lawsuit.

The Uber lawsuit alleges that drivers should be granted employee status, therefore requiring that Uber follow California wage and hour laws. Uber continues to argue that they are merely an app company that arranges rides between drivers and customers. The company further claims that their drivers are employers themselves who pick their own terms when signing up as a driver.

California Wage and Hour Laws

Uber employs more than 160,000 California drivers. This means if a jury determines that drivers are employees and not independent contractors, these workers could be owed financial compensation under California wage and hour laws.

Additionally, if Uber drivers are deemed employees rather than independent contractors, then certain California labor codes would also apply to them.

For example, California labor laws require that employers must pay employees 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for any overtime hours exceeding eight hours per day. Wage and hour laws also require that California employees receive twice their regular hourly pay for any hours exceeding 12 hours per day.

Furthermore, California break laws impose that employees must be given a 10 minute break for every four hours of labor. If a rest break is missed, a California employer must give their worker one hour of pay at the regular hourly rate within a paycheck cycle.

Finally, CA break laws also entitle employees to a 30-minute, work free lunch break after five hours of work. If for some reason they miss a lunch break, a written agreement between employer and employee must be documented and the employee must receive one hour of pay at their regular hourly rate. Employees have up to three years to claim unpaid wages.

If the Uber class action lawsuit is successful in changing the status of drivers to employees, the California based company will be required to follow wage and hour laws, which means changing some of their current modes of operation. For instance, the mobile app company would have to create schedules for their drivers in order to determine if they qualify for overtime.

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