Uber, Lyft agree to US$328 million in back pay for N.Y. drivers
BNN Bloomberg
Ride-hailing companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. agreed to pay New York drivers a total of $328 million in back pay and carry out a series of labor reforms to resolve state investigations into their employment practices.
The companies will start to offer paid sick leave, put in place a minimum “earnings floor” and vowed to improve hiring and earnings notices, among other changes, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday in a statement. Under separate settlement agreements to resolve probes into improper tax charges on drivers, Uber will pay $290 million and Lyft will pay $38 million to current and former New York drivers, James said.
The agreements will prevent further litigation over whether drivers should be classified as employees with traditional legal protections as long as the company adheres to the terms of the deal, Uber spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said.
Uber also struck a separate agreement with the state’s Department of Labor to offer drivers and couriers unemployment benefits. The company “will begin making quarterly payments into the New York State Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and make a retroactive payment to the UI Trust Fund for payments owed since 2013” on behalf of drivers, according to a statement from Governor Kathy Hochul’s office.
