Uber, Lyft agree to pay combined $328 million for withholding money from drivers

Uber and Lyft agreed Thursday to pay a combined $328 million for withholding money from drivers.

Uber agreed to pay $290 million and Lyft $38 million in what New York Attorney General Letitia James known as the biggest wage-theft agreement her place of business has ever secured.

The money can be allotted to cheated drivers who gets again pay along side necessary paid unwell depart and different advantages. Eligible drivers can record a declare to obtain the money owed.

The “historic” settlement “builds on the benefits and protections that drivers already enjoy through the state’s Black Car Fund,” Lyft mentioned in a observation. The settlement amounted to a “win” for drivers, Jeremy Bird, the corporate’s leader coverage officer, mentioned.

“We look forward to continuing this work in order to provide New York drivers the independence and full range of benefits available to those in other states, like California and Washington,” Bird said in a statement.

The “landmark, first-of-its-kind settlement” will bring Uber closer to its goal of allowing drivers to choose “flexibility” in their work without giving up protections, the company said in a statement.

“For years, we’ve got advocated to exchange the established order to permit those that select platform paintings to have each the power to paintings when, the place and the way ceaselessly they would like, in addition to obtain vital advantages,” Uber said.

Today, Uber reached a with New York Attorney General Letitia James, that gets us closer to achieving that goal.

From 2014 to 2017, Uber deducted sales taxes and Black Car Fund fees from drivers’ payments when those taxes and fees should have been paid by passengers, the attorney general’s office said.

Uber misrepresented the deductions made to drivers’ pay in their terms of service, telling drivers that Uber would only deduct its commission from the drivers’ fare, and that drivers were “entitled to price [the passenger] for any tolls, taxes or charges incurred,” though no method to do this was ever provided via the Uber Driver app.

Lyft used a similar method to shortchange drivers from 2015 to 2017, deducting an 11.4% “administrative price” from drivers’ payments in New York equal to the amount of sales tax and Black Car Fund fees that should have been paid by riders.

Uber and Lyft additionally failed to supply drivers with paid unwell depart to be had to workers underneath New York City and New York State regulation.

“For years, Uber and Lyft systemically cheated their drivers out of masses of thousands and thousands of bucks in pay and advantages whilst they labored lengthy hours in difficult stipulations,” James said in a statement. “These drivers overwhelmingly come from immigrant communities and depend on those jobs to supply for their households. This agreement will ensure that they in spite of everything get what they have got rightfully earned and are owed underneath the regulation.”

In addition to paying a total of $328 million in back pay to former drivers, Uber and Lyft agreed to an “income ground,” guaranteeing drivers across the state are paid a minimum rate. Drivers outside of New York City will receive a minimum of $26 per hour. Drivers operating in New York City already receive minimum driver pay under regulations established by the Taxi & Limousine Commission in 2019.

Uber and Lyft drivers will now additionally obtain assured paid unwell depart. Drivers will earn one hour of unwell pay for each and every 30 hours labored, up to a most of 56 hours according to 12 months.