Uber Drivers Are Not Employees, Rules Fair Work Australia

Australia’s Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has finalised its investigation into Uber and has ruled that the relationship between the popular ride-share company and its drivers is not an employment relationship, sparking outrage from unions.

FWO, Sandra Parker, said that during the investigation into Uber’s engagement of drivers, inspectors examined a wide range of evidence, including driver contracts, log on and log off records, interviews with drivers and Uber Australia, ABN documents, payment statements, banking records and pricing schedules.

Parker said that for an employment relationship to exist, “the courts have determined that there must be, at a minimum, an obligation for an employee to perform work when it is demanded by the employer.”

Uber Australia does not require drivers to perform work at particular times.

“Our investigation found that Uber Australia drivers are not subject to any formal or operational obligation to perform work.”

“Uber Australia drivers have control over whether, when, and for how long they perform work, on any given day or on any given week. As a consequence, the Fair Work Ombudsman will not take compliance action in relation to this matter.”

Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) National Secretary, Michael Kaine, labelled the decision “devastating” for workers in the gig economy, and immediately called on the Federal Government to enact “urgent legislation” that would ensure gig economy workers were given rights and protections against exploitation.

“If this is what our laws are guiding regulators to do then these laws are hopelessly broken and the Government must act urgently to put in place rights that protect all workers.”

“In jurisdictions around the world from London to New York and Los Angeles, Uber is being held to account and faced down despite its massive lobbying efforts and bullying. Yet in Australia today it has been given the green light to continue ripping riders and drivers off, sacking them without warning or the right to appeal and ignoring their pleas to be able to earn a decent living.”

“Workers must be given rights regardless of their definition under the law. The evidence shows that Uber workers are being abused: the pay is well below minimum rates, there is no right to negotiate the continual decreasing rates, there is little support when drivers are forced to take time off when they are sick or injured and superannuation is non-existent. Will Scott Morrison and his team with their new mandate to govern chose to stand up for workers in Australia or will they side with a billion-dollar backed bully?”

In 2018, a survey of over a thousand Australian Uber drivers found that, on average, drivers earned A$16 per hour before paying for fuel, insurance, and other costs – a number well below the Australian minimum.

On top of that, one in 10 drivers said they had been physically assaulted while working, and 6 per cent said they had been sexually assaulted.