Amita Gupta says her account access was restricted for allegedly arriving 10 minutes late for work.
“My (Uber eats) app account access was restricted after I showed up late for work,” Ms Gupta told SBS Hindi.
Amita Gupta lost her appeal at the Fair Work Commission on 23 August. The commission decided Amita Gupta was technically an “independent contractor” and not an “employee”, so they have no legal right to sue for unfair dismissal.
Earlier in July, the Fair Work Ombudsman had found Uber drivers were not employees but contractors working for the ridesharing and delivery company.
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“The weight of evidence from our investigation establishes that the relationship between Uber Australia and the drivers is not an employment relationship,” Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker had said in a statement released in July this year.
“For such a relationship to exist, the courts have determined that there must be, at a minimum, an obligation for an employee to perform work when the employer demands it.”
“Our investigation found that Uber Australia drivers are not subject to any formal or operational obligation to perform work,” Ms Parker said.
Source: AP
However, the Transport Workers Union, which has come in support of Ms Gupta and decided to represent Ms Gupta legally, maintains that Uber Eats is deliberately misclassifying its workers.
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said Uber workers had “zero control over their work, they cannot set rates and are entirely directed by an algorithm which allocates work based on an arbitrary rating system.”
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In a statement Mr Kaine said, “It is not the hallmark of an independent contractor to have to be logged on for hours to an app in the hope of getting some orders, then having to accept whatever comes in and carrying out the work in quick time for as little as $6,” he said. “This is more akin to the working terms and conditions from the Hungry Mile a century ago, where workers trawled Sydney’s docks for hours for work.”
TWU is hoping the Amita Gupta case will advance the Australian rights of gig-economy workers.
“The TWU is appealing against a decision by the Fair Work Commission that a sacked Uber Eats driver was an independent contractor, not an employee, thus not entitled to claim unfair dismissal,” said TWU in a statement.
Amita Gupta says she was paid much less than minimum wage.
“I joined Uber Eats as a delivery driver in 2017. We used to calculate our time and distance and realised the payment was meagre,” said Ms Gupta.
Santosh Gupta, who is also an Uber Eats driver claims he was paid just $300 while logged on for 96 hours in a week.
“It’s slavery. They treat us like slaves,” said Mr Gupta adding, “I hope our case helps other drivers too.”
Uber spokesperson says the company welcomed the Fair Work Commission's decision on this matter.
"It reflected what delivery partners tell us - that they value the freedom and flexibility the Uber app provides," the spokesperson told SBS Hindi.
