New Zealand's Supreme Court has declared four Uber drivers to be employees as it dismissed the ride-sharing platform's appeal to recognise their employment status as independent contractors.
The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that factors pointing towards the employee status of the drivers outweighed the factors pointing away from it.
It also unanimously found that there is no pre-trip contract between riders and drivers. Instead, Uber offers a rider the fare for the trip and the rider accepts that offer.
"Neither drivers nor riders can effectively select one another, and they are practically anonymous vis-à-vis one another throughout the entire transaction," the court's written summary of the decision read.
"Uber earns its revenues by charging riders for trips, and resolves any difficulties which might arise during each trip. A passenger could not reasonably be expected to think they were contracting with the driver when they got into the car."
The decision upholds previous rulings from the Court of Appeal and Employment Court, which both declared the four drivers in the case as employees of the ride-sharing platform.
"We are disappointed by the Court's decision, which casts significant doubt on contracting arrangements across New Zealand. Independent contracting is a cornerstone of not just Uber but also our broader economy — from tradespeople and creatives to IT consultants and health professionals — and hundreds of thousands of Kiwis value the freedom and control it...
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