Uber Expands Payment for Drivers
Uber Expands Payment for Drivers in California, after being sued over not providing the appropriate amount of sick leave to drivers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Some Uber drivers say they had trouble getting a sick leave from the company. Uber‘s paid vacation policy for drivers with COVID-19 symptoms is an evolving process.
After reaching multiple iterations in the past two months, Uber said Thursday April 30th, 2020 that it is adding additional financial support to California drivers.
Uber Expands Payment for Drivers in California
The move comes after Uber was sued by drivers for allegedly failing to provide adequate sick leave during the new coronavirus pandemic. Uber and the drivers reached a resolution in the lawsuit, which was first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed in Crumpe by drivers‘ attorneys Shannon Liss-Riordan.
The company agreed to pay $ 360, calculated over three 8-hour business days to $ 15, for all drivers who were diagnosed with COVID-19, who had symptoms of the disease or who thought they had been exposed to the Uber virus, also offers assistance. financially to drivers with pre-existing health conditions that make them susceptible to COVID-19, even over the age of 60.
Unlike previous versions of the Uber policy, drivers do not need a medical note or documentation to receive payment. “In these uncertain times, we are taking steps to provide you with the resources we hope will help you continue to work safely if you choose to,” Uber wrote in a blog post for California drivers. And take the time you need if you can’t work due to COVID-19 health issues.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that employers offer workers paid sick leave if they are exposed to or infected with COVID-19.
Public health officials say this is essential to prevent people from working and exposing others to the virus. Without financial assistance, some drivers say they feel compelled to work even if they are sick because they cannot afford it.
Hail drivers are classified as independent contractors and do not receive benefits, such as compulsory sick leave, that employees enjoy. The crux of the drivers‘ lawsuit against Uber boils down to worker classification and the fact that hail drivers don’t have a safety net, something that was amplified during the coronavirus pandemic. Liss-Riordan has filed a similar lawsuit against Lyft.
“We are pleased to have received sickness benefits for California Uber drivers,” Liss-Riordan said in an email. “We can now focus on the procedure for requesting a court decision that Uber continues to classify its drivers as independent contractors.”
When the coronavirus pandemic hit in early March, Uber was the first company to save the concerts and offered employees sick leave if they came with the virus. But drivers said the salary was difficult to obtain because it was almost impossible to get tested at the time.
On March 15, the company expanded its policy to say that workers who were quarantined by a doctor could also get help for two weeks. But Crumpe spoke to more than a dozen drivers who have yet to obtain a paid permit.
In mid-April, Uber changed its policy again. This time, he added drivers with pre-existing conditions to be eligible for sickness benefit. With this change, Uber also placed a “maximum payout” limit on the amount of money each driver could receive. For full-time drivers, this meant that the payments generally represented less than a quarter of their normal earnings over two weeks.
The new $ 360 payment is intended to include even more drivers in California, as they won’t be required to show a letter from the doctor. To qualify, drivers must have driven several hours with Uber in the past year. If drivers still want to apply for the two-week paid leave program, they can, too, Uber said in its blog post.
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