Uber lawyer with CBC News on Uber drivers classification

Delivery drivers for apps such as Uber, Lyft, Skip the Dishes and more are asking to be classified as employees rather than contract workers in Ontario. Drivers argue that they do not have any of the benefits that employees have access to but yet their hours and compensation are dictated by the companies.

An Ottawa employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, the firm that has launched a class-action lawsuit against Uber, spoke with CBC News on the ongoing plight.

“When you actually look at the relationship and you look at the control that Uber has over these drivers in many different ways, that’s where you see that there is in fact, an employee-employer relationship,” said the lawyer.

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Uber Class Action Lawsuit
Employee vs. Independent Contractor

The employment lawyer went on to explain that the Ford government has rolled back the responsibility of employers in classifying their workers. “Ontario’s Employment Standards Act previously put the onus on employers to prove that their workers are independent contractors, but the Ford government changed that in its 2018 rollback of provincial labour law. The burden of proof now rests with the workers.”