California in settlement talks with Uber, Lyft over wage theft claims

In aboriginal 2020, thousands of drivers — led by Southern California advocacy radical Rideshare Drivers United — filed claims with the authorities against Uber and Lyft. They alleged the companies had illegally treated them arsenic autarkic contractors and owed them much than $1.3 cardinal successful wages, expenses and damages.

Now, the authorities is acceptable to statesman colony negotiations with the ride-hailing giants. And drivers privation the California lawyer wide and the labour commissioner to instrumentality their demands into relationship during the closed-door talks.

People who actively drove for Uber and Lyft betwixt 2016 and 2020 could beryllium eligible for the imaginable settlement, which astir apt involves much than 250,000 drivers, according to Rideshare Drivers United.

To property their demands, drivers program to rally Wednesday greeting extracurricular Los Angeles City Hall, arsenic good arsenic successful San Diego and San Francisco, asking that the authorities propulsion for a colony statement that recoups each mislaid wages and damages, oregon establishes further wage boosts and workplace protections for drivers.

“Our archetypal precedence is to get backmost the wealth that was stolen,” said Nicole Moore, president of Rideshare Drivers United, referring to wage theft claims. “The lone mode they should commercialized distant immoderate of that wealth is to get just standards.”

Moore said a colony could assistance found a complaint paper wherever drivers are paid a minimum of $1.75 per mile and 60 cents per infinitesimal — a exemplary akin to that adopted successful New York City.

The planned protestation comes up of a mediation league scheduled for Monday with Uber. A league with Lyft is scheduled for April 8.

The companies did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The negotiations impact not lone the California labour commissioner, with whom drivers had filed their wage claims, but besides the authorities lawyer general. Joined by the metropolis attorneys of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, they sued Uber and Lyft to unit the companies to instantly classify drivers arsenic employees and accused the companies of dodging section and authorities payroll taxes.

Drivers who were misclassified arsenic autarkic contractors during the people play were denied overtime, repast and remainder breaks and mileage reimbursement, the lawsuits said.

These claims, arsenic good arsenic respective different backstage lawsuits, were combined into a coordinated enactment successful San Francisco Superior Court truthful that a azygous justice could determine each the issues successful 1 place.

Uber and Lyft accused California authorities of wasting clip and resources connected wage claims, contending that the bulk of California drivers wanted to enactment arsenic autarkic contractors alternatively than employees, and that the state’s enforcement efforts would stifle the maturation of the industry.

The coordinated suit was paused portion Uber and Lyft launched an yet unsuccessful effort to artifact the authorities from enforcing wage and hr laws, arguing that their arbitration agreements with idiosyncratic drivers prevented the authorities from doing so.

In November 2020, voters approved Proposition 22, the ballot inaugural backed by Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and different gig system companies. The measurement exempted the companies from a proviso successful authorities labour law, allowing them to classify drivers for their ride-hailing and transportation services arsenic autarkic contractors alternatively than arsenic employees.

The ballot inaugural was upheld by the authorities Supreme Court past year.

Uber and Lyft drivers accidental their enactment conditions and wage person declined successful caller years.

Lyft operator Yasha Timenovich, 48, who began driving successful 2014, said helium works 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and yet inactive struggles to marque ends meet.

The Hollywood nonmigratory said that portion ride-hailing and transportation companies are raising prices for customers, drivers get an progressively tiny stock owed to “nonsensical” and “inconsistent” fees.

Earlier this week, for a thrust wherever the rider paid $54.99, Timenovich earned conscionable $24.15, aft the institution deducted $29.34 for “commercial car security & different expenses,” $0.10 for “taxes & gov’t fees,” and $1.40 for Lyft’s earnings, according to a screenshot of the app reviewed by The Times.

“How bash they warrant this?” helium said. “What’s near for me?”

Karen Vandenberg, 64, a San Diego-based Uber driver, said that antecedently she mightiness person been capable to marque $250 successful a time earlier subtracting state and different expenses. But to marque that overmuch today, she mightiness person to enactment for respective days. Car problems forced her disconnected the roadworthy for respective months, erstwhile she had to regenerate her car’s transmission doubly successful 2023, costing her a full of astir $10,000.

“It was a agelong clip that my car was out,” Vandenberg said. “I didn’t person wealth to wage for different transmission, truthful it sat there. It conscionable got frustrating — not lone that, but the changeless lipid changes and brake changes and tyre changes and gas.”