One of the biggest Christian churches in Australia has temporarily prohibited staff members from using Uber and Uber Eats due to concerns about how the ride-sharing firm treats drivers and delivery passengers. According to the Uniting Church in Australia’s Victoria and Tasmania Synod, Uber should only be used for professional reasons when taxis and other ride-sharing applications aren’t accessible. The fact that drivers were treated as independent contractors resulted in many of them receiving less than the minimum wage and working a lot of overtime, according to the report.
Uber Technologies Inc. said that it was ‘committed to improving standards for independent contractors in the gig economy’ after years of dealing with complaints about how it handles drivers.
When the firm was compelled by a historic UK Supreme Court ruling to recognise a subset of drivers as ‘workers’, giving them the right to a minimum salary, vacation pay, and other benefits, Uber’s treatment of drivers reached a breaking point in February last year.
Uber recently confirmed that it will classify all of its UK drivers after receiving similar accusations.
Uber agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission $20 million in January 2017 to settle charges that the company had deceived drivers about their prospective profits.
A class action complaint asserting that Uber’s ‘upfront prices’ strategy failed to deliver drivers the 80% of fares to which they were legally entitled was filed in 2017 on behalf of thousands of Uber drivers. The $345,622 settlement included at least $20 for each motorist in the class.
Uber has been at the centre of several disputes. This includes both unethical business practices including breaking regional laws and undercutting competing companies.
It has also drawn criticism for how it responds to racial and sexual harassment claims at work. Uber’s decision to keep consumer data on file has also come under fire, especially in light of how it handled data breaches.
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