Posts: Gig Economy

Since it arrived in Australia, Uber has been under fire for its disruption of the transport industry and its complicated relationship with its drivers.

Casual Employment, Supply Chain, Contracts, Gig Economy, Restraints of Trade, Enterprise Agreements, Work Health & Safety.

As the functionality of HRIS increases and technology generally gets smarter, will an employer’s reliance on the recommendations or decisions of a HRIS put the employer at risk?

The Fair Work Commission recently handed down a decision in which it considered whether an Uber driver could be an employee for the purposes of the Fair Work Act 2009.

In California, a Commissioner has said that an Uber driver who connects with his customers through the Uber app must be considered to be an employee. This means that Uber drivers are now eligible for reimbursements for expenses and for the minimum wage.

Fairness is a term ingrained in the Australian workplace relations system. At the core of our federal industrial relations framework is the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), the umpire of our industrial relations disputes is the Fair Work Commission and we employ a minimum safety net of employment conditions for the purpose of ensuring fairness to workers. In fact, there are no less than seven references to fairness (in one form or another) in the stated objects of the Fair Work Act.

Last month, the Young Workers Centre in Victoria and Maurice Blackburn Lawyers announced their partnership in a new campaign called Rights for Riders. The campaign will aim to improve safety, pay and conditions and job security for food delivery bicycle riders engaged by on demand food delivery services.

Airtasker is the most recent operator in the “gig” economy facing allegations of sham contracting and underpayment for work performed.

Uber Technologies now appears to be undergoing a major remodel of its workplace environment, including the dismissal of 20 employees and the departure of CEO, Travis Kalanick, following a self-imposed investigation into the culture of the eight-year old company.