Swiss court rules Uber drivers are employees

Swiss court rules Uber drivers are employees

The Cantonal Court of Vaud (Switzerland) ruled that a former Uber driver was “in an employment relationship with the company that employs him.”

Thus, it confirmed on Tuesday a ruling of the labor court of the district of Lausanne of April last year.

The ruling is considered to be groundbreaking for Switzerland. The driver had worked 50.2 hours a week for Rasier Operations, a subsidiary of Uber, from April 2015 to December 2016. Consequently, according to the lawyer, this was his main activity.

At the end of 2016, the driver’s account was deactivated due to complaints against him. This termination with immediate effect was not justified, the Lausanne labor court had ruled. The person in question was unaware of the complaints and was therefore unable to react.

Therefore, the court ordered the Uber subsidiary to pay the driver 19,000 Swiss francs (17,700 euros). This sum consists of a two-month salary for statutory vacations and severance pay.

According to lawyer Rémy Wyler, however, the most important thing about the case is that the labor court had determined that, due to the organization of the company, the drivers are not self-employed, but employees.

Unia requires adequate employment contracts

In a response on Tuesday, the Unia union asked Uber to “immediately issue the appropriate employment contracts to all of its drivers and pay them retrospectively the wages, expenses and social security contributions to which they are entitled.”

Cantons must ensure that Uber adheres to the law.

Unia writes that classification as an employee or employed person would give Uber drivers legal rights to social security contributions, a reasonable salary, paid vacations, reimbursement of expenses such as car and mobile phone costs, and meeting periods. regular notification.

According to Unia calculations, Uber owes its several thousand drivers in Switzerland several hundred million francs during the period from 2013 to 2020.

Uber employees are also entitled to these retroactively, the union emphasizes.

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Swiss court rules Uber drivers are employees