Ride share company Uber has faced legal challenges around the world over whether its drivers should be classified as employees or contractors. New Zealand is no exception, with the most recent case heard before the Supreme Court in July.
While the outcome of that case is not yet known, Uber stands to benefit from amendments to New Zealand’s employment law, currently under select committee review. As it has elsewhere, Uber actively lobbied the government for changes to the law, and one of the proposed amendments was suggested by the company itself.
If enacted, the suite of amendments would clarify the distinction between employment and contracting arrangements, alter how personal grievance remedies are assessed, introduce a high-income threshold for unjustified dismissal claims, and abolish the “30-day rule” for workplaces with collective agreements.
Under the proposed law, whether a worker is a contractor would depend on a “gateway test”. This covers whether the contract describes the person as a contractor, whether they can work for other companies, whether they are required to work specific shifts, and whether their contract can be terminated for declining extra work.
Presented as a way of clarifying the legal status of platform-based workers such as Uber or DoorDash drivers, the changes may end up making it easier for employers to misclassify employees – and is out of step with other countries.
The amendments also don’t address the range of problems associated with...
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