Uber Investigation Seeks Copy of Employee Health Plan

Uber attorneys are seeking a copy of the health insurance plan that Uber offers its corporate employees.

They are investigating whether Uber drivers may qualify for sponsored health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Uber employees – not drivers, but current employees of the company – who receive health insurance benefits from Uber may be able to assist in the investigation by providing a copy of their full employer-sponsored health insurance policy.

The investigation seeks a copy of the full policy document, not just a short summary of coverage. Attorneys with the investigation are offering to take care of delivery of the documents and to maintain the provider’s confidentiality.

Checking Uber’s Employee Health Care Coverage

Under the Affordable Care Act’s “Employer Mandate,” any employer with 50 or more full-time employees must provide health insurance to at least 95 percent of those employees and their dependents by 2016. An employee is considered “full-time” if they work more than 30 hours per week or more than 130 hours per month for three months.

According to a 2015 report, Uber has around 32,000 full-time employees. That number represents the company’s workers who are not disputed to be employees; it does not account for the estimated 160,000 Uber drivers out on the streets. The undisputed Uber employees may already be receiving health care coverage sponsored by Uber and may be able to contribute a copy of the policy to the ongoing investigation.

The embattled producer of the famous ride hailing mobile phone app was hit with another class action lawsuit in May challenging the relationship it attempts to maintain with its drivers. As with previous employee rights lawsuits, the new Uber class action lawsuit challenges Uber’s classification as independent contractors, who as such would not be entitled to employee protections like overtime pay and reimbursement of expenses.

Plaintiffs in this new claim seek to represent a class of Uber drivers from states other than Massachusetts and California. Two Uber class action lawsuits representing drivers in those states recently settled for an amount that could reach as high as $100 million.

Some drivers represented in those two Uber class action lawsuits objected to the settlement, however, claiming that it was not truly in the Uber drivers’ best interests.

The plaintiffs in these Uber class action lawsuits generally allege that by purposely misclassifying its drivers, Uber gets to dodge massive amounts of labor costs like Social Security, unemployment insurance, and employer-sponsored health care.

By asserting its drivers are only contractors, plaintiffs argue, the company also manages to avoid reimbursing them for business expenses like fuel, mileage, maintenance and tolls. Once drivers cover these expenses out of their own pockets, the plaintiffs say, some of them are not even making minimum wage – creating another basis for a possible claim against the company.

To get a copy of Uber’s employee healthcare policy, attorneys conducting the current Uber class action investigation are offering to arrange and pay for overnight delivery or courier service, so that there would be no cost to the person providing the documents. The provider’s identity will also remain confidential. Please click the link below if you are able to help.

Join a Free Uber Driver Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you are an Uber driver who lives in Indiana, Central or Southern Illinois, or Wisconsin, you may be eligible to join a class action lawsuit investigation into claims they you were misclassified as independent contractors. Find out if you qualify.

Get a Free Case Evaluation Now