Uber gives UK drivers minimum wage, holidays

Uber will give its drivers in the United Kingdom the minimum wage, pensions and holiday pay following a recent court decision, which Labor and the transport union present as evidence the Morrison government could mandate the same rights in Australia, cost-free to users.

The ride-hailing giant made the announcement on Tuesday after it lost an appeal last month at the UK Supreme Court following a years-long court battle and holds wider implications for the gig economy globally because Uber has previously insisted its drivers are independent contractors.

Uber has agreed to give its UK drivers the minimum wage once they have accepted a trip.Credit: Getty

But the court ruled a subset of Uber drivers were “workers”, a status that does not exist in Australia but is similar to casual employees who are entitled to the minimum wage but scant job security.

Uber said it was extending the benefits almost immediately to its more than 70,000 drivers in the UK and told the BBC it did not expect customers would pay higher fares as a result.

Drivers will earn at least the minimum wage, which currently stands at £8.72 ($15.66), when they have accepted a trip and expenses, and will still be able to earn more.

Drivers will also get holiday pay equal to about 12 per cent of their earnings, paid every two weeks. And they will be enrolled in a pension plan that both they and the company will pay into.

“Australia doesn’t need to wait for the courts here to find the same thing,” said Labor’s industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke, who has called for a tribunal to give similar rights to gig economy workers here. “The government could act right now to stop the exploitation of gig workers.”

Australia’s minimum wage is much higher at $19.84 an hour and many jobs have minimum shift times, which could pose challenges to applying the ruling here because most Uber trips are much shorter than that.

An Uber spokeswoman said the company wanted to provide benefits here but did not endorse the “worker” model here.

“There are other reform solutions that could be pursued in Australia that could deliver a stronger safety net for gig workers than what currently exists,” the spokeswoman said.

“Sector-wide requirements for platform companies to accrue benefits and provide insurance and other minimum standards, could help improve independent work, ensure a level playing field, and deliver business certainty.”

The drivers who filed the UK case welcomed the news but said it was not enough.

Uber has “arrived to the table with this offer a day late and a dollar short,” said James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam of the App Drivers and Couriers Union.

They said the changes stopped short of the Supreme Court’s ruling that pay should be calculated from when drivers log on to the app until they log off. They also said the company can’t decide by itself the expense base for calculating the minimum wage, which should be based on a collective agreement.

Australia’s Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine said those concerns meant it was up to government’s to regulate.

“Instead of allowing Uber to introduce static definitions on how they treat their workers, and choosing what bits of rights they will recognise, Australia must put in place a tribunal with full powers to regulate on gig workers’ rights,” Mr Kaine said.

A spokesman for acting industrial relations minister Michaelia Cash said the government was trying to pass a law increasing penalties for sham contracting.

“Any reforms to the framework concerning gig economy workers deserves careful, detailed analysis and consideration of the impacts on things like the ability to work flexibly, the potential loss of job opportunities for gig economy workers, price increases for consumers and higher costs for partner businesses like local restaurants and cafes,” the spokesman said.

With AP