Not everything is worth it to achieve success. Uber and Lyft reached an agreement this Thursday to pay, combined, a total of $328 million for keeping money that belonged to the drivers, in the extrajudicial agreement for the so-called “greatest wage theft.”
At least that's how Letitia James, attorney general of the state of New York, defined it, who, she indicated, had never seen anything like it. Specifically, Uber has to pay 290 million, while the remaining 38 correspond to Lyft.
“Uber and Lyft systematically deceived drivers for years out of millions of dollars in wages and benefits while they worked long hours under difficult conditions,” James said in a statement. “These drivers overwhelmingly came from immigrant communities who relied on these occupations to provide for their families. This agreement ensures that they will finally be able to have what they rightfully earned and are legally owed,” he stressed.
The money will be distributed to the deceived, or defrauded, drivers, and they will receive it as back wages along with the mandatory paid sick leave they did not get and other bonuses they were shortchanged. Drivers must fill out a claim to receive their share.
This “historic” agreement builds “on the benefits and protections that drivers already enjoy across the state in other car services with drivers,” according to a statement issued by Lyft when releasing this news. The pact is a victory for drivers, said Jeremy Bird, the head of the company's policy office.
“We look forward to continuing this work to provide New York drivers with the independence and full range of benefits available to those working in other states, such as California and Washington,” Bird said in his statement.
This milestone first-of-its-kind agreement will “make it easier” for Uber to “allow drivers to choose flexibility in their work, without eliminating protections,” the company said. “For years we have advocated changing the status so that these drivers can choose the platform on which to work and when they believe necessary, as many times and as frequently as they want, while receiving important benefits,” Uber said in its communication note.
Between 2014 and 2017, Uber deducted sales taxes paid and commissions from drivers when these taxes were paid by passengers, the New York Attorney General's Office noted.
Uber misrepresented employee compensation deductions in terms of service. But he explained to the drivers that they would only deduct their commissions from the fares they charged and that the drivers “had the right to charge passengers for tolls, taxes or fees generated in the service,” even though he never offered them. a mechanism or method in the Uber application to charge for these items.
For its part, Lyft used a similar system to cut drivers' earnings at least between 2015 and 2017. It deducted 11.4% for "administrative charges" from the payments they received from drivers in New York, although It didn't belong to them.
Both companies also failed to provide drivers with sick pay that is available to employees under New York, city and state laws. From now on they will be guaranteed that they will be paid for this concept and will earn one hour of sick pay for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 56 hours per year.
In addition to the 328 million that must be returned to the drivers, the two companies agreed to guarantee a level of profits to the drivers and a basic remuneration is established from which they cannot be lowered. Non-New York City drivers will receive a minimum of $26 per hour. Those who operate in the Big Apple already receive a minimum wage established in 2019 by the taxi and limousine administration.
