Uber and Lyft have agreed to offer a minimum wage, paid sick leave and other benefits for drivers as part of a $175 million settlement resolving a multi-year legal battle with Massachusetts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ride-hailing companies will be required to pay drivers a minimum of $32.50 per hour, provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, offer a stipend to buy into the state\u2019s paid family and medical leave program and allow drivers to pool their hours across companies to receive a health care stipend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Uber must also pay the state $148 million to resolve alleged labor violations, while Lyft must pay $27 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor years, these companies have underpaid their drivers and denied them basic benefits,\u201d Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank my team, whose hard work has secured a standard of dignity for every driver across the state, and our labor allies and the drivers themselves for the tireless work and advocacy,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Uber and Lyft also touted the settlement as a win, emphasizing the agreement grants drivers new benefits while maintaining flexibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“This agreement is an example of what independent, flexible work with dignity should look like in the 21st century,\u201d Tony West, Uber\u2019s chief legal officer, wrote in a press release. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn taking this opportunity, we\u2019ve resolved historical liabilities by constructing a new operating model that balances both flexibility and benefits,\u201d he added.\u00a0\u201cThis allows both Uber and Massachusetts to move forward in a way that reflects what drivers want and demonstrates to other states what\u2019s possible to achieve.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The settlement comes shortly after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court cleared the way for a ballot measure that would have allowed voters to decide whether ride-hailing and delivery drivers should be classified as employees or independent contractors. \u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the agreement eliminates the need for the November ballot measure, both the attorney general and Lyft noted in their press releases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a huge win for Massachusetts drivers that secures their freedom to earn when, where, and however long they want,\u201d Jeremy Bird, Lyft\u2019s executive vice president of driver experience, said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Uber and Lyft have agreed to offer a minimum wage, paid sick leave and other benefits for drivers as part of a $175 million settlement resolving a multi-year legal battle with Massachusetts.\u00a0 The ride-hailing companies will be required to pay drivers a minimum of $32.50 per hour, provide one hour of paid sick leave for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":642,"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641\/revisions\/642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}