State labor judge finds Uber an 'employer'
06/13/2017 05:18 PM EDT
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In a big win for driver advocates that could have cascading effects for Uber in New York State, a New York administrative law judge has found that three Uber drivers and their "similarly situated" colleagues in New York City are employees under state labor law.
What that means, in practice, is that a state judge believes Uber must provide unemployment insurance for the three Uber drivers named in the case, as well as an indeterminate number of "similarly situated" drivers in New York City.
The judge does not define what "similarly situated" means, but advocates believe it applies to all Uber drivers in New York City. Uber is certain to contest that.
In her opinion, administrative law judge Michelle Burrowes writes that the "the overriding evidence establishes that Uber exercised sufficient supervision, direction, and control" over enough aspects of the three drivers to create an "employer-employee relationship."
"I, conclude, therefore, that the claimants, and others similarly situated, are/were employees of the employer, Uber," she writes.
New York Taxi Workers Alliance executive director Bhairavi Desai said, “The message here is simple: If you're going to control the workers to maximize your profits off their labor, you owe them their rights and benefits under the law."
The case, brought by the Taxi Workers Alliance and Brooklyn Legal Services, was first reported by POLITICO New York. It is one of a series of legal challenges Uber is battling across the country and the world as it tries to avoid having to pay for the sort of benefits employers provide.
"This is an extremely important decision," said Nicole Salk, of Brooklyn Legal Services. "It is the first unemployment insurance benefits decision, after a full hearing, regarding Uber drivers in New York State."
"Now Uber will have to make unemployment contributions to the state for these workers," she added, "and we believe it owes the state contributions for every Uber driver."
The company now has 20 days to appeal Burrowes' decision to a higher level of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, after which it can contest the case in a state appeals court.
It has every intention of appealing.
"We are immediately requesting a new hearing and appealing this decision," said Uber spokesman Josh Gold. "We are confident we will prevail — the Department of Labor has already ruled that several drivers are independent contractors and a Federal Court has deemed all black car drivers to be independent contractors."
On February 16, 2017, the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut will hold a public hearing on two minimum wage bills. The bills, S.B. 13 and H.B. 6208, both seek to increase the minimum wage to $11.00 beginning in January 2018 with increases of $1 per year until it reaches $15.00.
New Jersey Bill S-121 seeks to eliminate the existing exemption from unemployment taxes for owner operated trucks of 9 tons of more who are paid by the load or similar compensation. A hearing is pending for approval of this Bill. To learn more about S-121, please click on the link provided.
On February 6, 2017, Governor Christie signed a new law (S-2370) that permits New Jersey residents to hire a courier to deliver New Jersey lottery tickets to their homes. This law may create a new business opportunity for New Jersey members.
Effective January 1, 2017 the minimum wage rate in New Jersey is $8.44 per hour.
Please click on the link below to be directed to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development website for full details
NYSMCA cordially invites you to attend its Annual Holiday Networking Event on Thursday, December 15, 2016 at Lexington's Cocktail and Liquor Bar, located at 130 East 39th Street, NYC 10016.
Your fun filled evening includes:
A three hour hosted bar with passed hot hors d'oeuvres at Lexingtson's Cocktail and Liquor Bar.
Celebrate the holiday season and network with your colleagues wile enjoying our private bar in our private room.
Come join us between 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. for a great time!
$110 per member, $160 per non-member
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NYSMCA Member Benefit |
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The NewYork Yankees are pleased to offer the members of the New York State Messenger and Courier Association the opportunity to attend Yankees home games for special prices. |
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Please click the link below to be forwarded to the discounted Yankee ticket page.
10% Discount Games - Save 10 percent off for these designated games!
July 15, 2016 vs. Boston October 2, 2016 vs. Baltimore
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July 20th, 2016 vs. Baltimore
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Promo Code:MCA16
With this personal website you are able to access discounted tickets ranging from 10% to 50% off the individual game advance price. Simply choose you game(s), enter the promotional code, pick your seats and enjoy the game.
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UberEats is the lunchtime meal-delivery service that Uber launched in Manhattan last spring. It is a courier-service app for businesses and consumers.
Click the link below to learn more about how UberEats is affecting the Bike Messenger industry.
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Teamsters Joint Council 16 expressed their thanks to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for signing the New York State Commercial Goods Industry Fair Play Act (A5237B/S5867) and giving the Empire State the strongest worker misclassification legislation in the country.
(Notice: New York State Business Council Announcement)
On Tuesday, June 4, 2013, The Business Council participated in a lobby day in Albany dedicated to educating state legislators and their staffs about the Transportation Industry Fair Play Act. This proposal, bill S.4589/A.5237, sponsored by Senator Diane Savino and Assemblyman Keith Wright, claims that there is widespread independent contractor misclassification abuse in our state’s truck transportation industry, and would subject the many independent truck owner-operators in the state to an unrealistic set of tests to keep their independent contractor status. The Business Council has opposed the Fair Play Act for several years.
More than fifty owner-operators, trucking company owners, independent contractors and trade association staff broke into four teams and together visited almost two dozen Senate and Assembly members with the message to leave these small businesses alone.
The bill is currently on the Senate voting calendar and in the Assembly Labor Committee.
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