We live in a golden age of brand activism: multinational corporations no longer want to simply flog you stuff, they want to lecture you about social justice at the same time. Take Uber, for example. The ride-sharing company, which conquered large swathes of the world by flouting regulations and classifying its drivers as contractors so…
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Foster carers could be the next group to take legal action for greater working rights, after a court in Glasgow found that a couple selected by the city council to look after vulnerable children should have been treated as workers rather than self-employed. Unions representing foster carers across the UK are planning to lodge further…
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Having threatened to pull out of California completely, Uber and Lyft recently won a temporary reprieve from orders to reclassify their drivers as employees rather than independent contractors. The companies argued they could not come up with a plan for doing so overnight, even though more than two years have passed since California’s supreme court…
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Last Monday, the superior court of California handed down a landmark judgment that looks like taking the wind out of the sails of at least some parts of the “gig economy”. The case was brought by the attorney general of the state of California, together with the city attorneys of Los Angeles, San Diego and…
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Uber and Lyft drivers are bracing for a shutdown in California, one of the rideshare companies’ largest markets. For drivers it is a bittersweet moment. One that couldn’t come at a worse time and yet holds the promise of a better future. The coronavirus pandemic has hit so-called gig economy workers hard and ramped up…
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A California judge has issued a preliminary injunction that would block Uber and Lyft from classifying their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. The move on Monday came in response to a May lawsuit filed by the state of California against the companies, which alleged they are misclassifying their drivers under the state’s new…
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