Uber wants to create a new status for its drivers in Europe

Between self-entrepreneurship and wage employment, Uber wants to find a third way.

This is the wish that its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed in a blog note published this Monday, February 15.

He now says he is aware that the social protection of his drivers is “uncertain” and calls for the creation of a new hybrid status which would retain the flexibility available to VTC drivers, while ensuring them better social protection.

The European Parliament is already working on an own-initiative report on this subject and could lead to regulations within one or two years.

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Today, as Eric Rocheblave, lawyer in labor law, reminds us, Uber drivers are self-employed with the status of auto-entrepreneur, "

which allows platforms to be exempt from social charges and to gain flexibility

".

But the CEO of Uber admits it himself: this status must be improved.

"The pandemic has revealed how much the classification and protection of this type of job (drivers, Editor's note) are uncertain," he

explains in his text.

He added that drivers and couriers expect flexibility, but also a "

decent

"

salary

, social protection and better union representation.

Two avenues for regulation

Uber offers two avenues for the creation of this new status at European level.

First, the possibility for drivers to pay contributions directly to pre-existing social protection systems in each Member State.

Then the creation of a fund that would be supplemented by the platforms and "would

allow (drivers) to have access to the benefits and protections they need: paid leave, help in the creation of a family or career paths

. "

Read also: Uber maintains hope despite abysmal losses

If Uber is now taking the bull by the horns, it is because court cases have multiplied in recent years.

Jérôme Giusti, for example, is the lawyer for a group of 200 drivers who are asking Uber to reclassify their employment contracts.

He recalls that the Court of Cassation had already reclassified in March 2020 the status of an independent Uber driver as an employee.

"

Uber, in France as elsewhere, disputes this type of stop and has embarked on a major communication campaign to demonstrate that its economic model would not hold up with salaried drivers

", he explains.

Minimum wage

Could this communication campaign by Uber and its CEO be used to push through regulations at European level?

Dara Khosrowshahi readily admits that it will be complicated to create a single statute for the whole of Europe, and that each country will have to define its own contours within a framework set by the EU.

"Labor law is a national law,"

supports Eric Rocheblave.

Each country has its own legislation on the concept of wage labor. "

Read also: California: Uber drivers who dream of being employees lose a battle

However, according to MEP Dominique Riquet, regulation is quite possible at EU level.

“

Everything that is related to social protection differs in fact according to the Member States, but it is possible to create a European framework,” he

believes.

Currently, discussions within the framework of the own-initiative report relate, for example, to the minimum wage for drivers.

So the very principle of the minimum wage for drivers should be voted on at European level, but the amount will be set by each country.

“

The general idea of ​​such a text is to recognize that the drivers are not employees, but since they have a commitment with the platforms, they must offer compensation.

"

Last November in California, Uber and its American competitor Lyft had already won a battle when the state voted for "Proposition 22", which preserved the independence of VTC drivers while granting them some compensation such as a guaranteed minimum income and a contribution to health insurance.

Regarding Europe, the CEO of Uber will have some time before him anyway: such legislation, according to Dominique Riquet, should not see the light of day before one to two years.