The French Supreme Court reclassifies the status of an Uber driver as an employee

This judgment confirms an earlier decision of the Court of Cassation concerning the old Take eat easy platform.

It's a blow to Uber. The Court of Cassation validated the requalification into an employment contract on Wednesday of the contractual relationship between the Uber company and a driver, confirming a decision of the Paris Court of Appeal dating from January 2019.

Considering that there is indeed a "subordination link" between the courier and the company, the Court of Cassation declared in a press release that the driver "does not perform his service as a self-employed worker but as an employee".

When asked whether a driver registered in the trade register as a self-employed worker is bound or not by a link of subordination with Uber, the highest French court replied in the affirmative, stressing that the driver who uses the Uber application "does not constitute its own clientele, does not freely set its prices and does not determine the conditions of performance of its transport service".

The Court of Cassation clarified, however, that “the fact that the driver is not obliged to connect to the platform and that this lack of connection, whatever its duration, does not expose him to any penalty, n 'not taken into account in the characterization of the link of subordination'.

Similar law came into force in California

Although being a first for the company Uber, it is not the first decision that the Court of Cassation has made regarding the workers of the platforms. The judgment of November 28, 2018 of the Court of Cassation had in fact ruled on the reclassification as employees of bicycle couriers of the old meal delivery platform Take eat easy.

Abroad, other similar decisions against the company Uber have been made recently. Since 1 st  January 2020, a law of the State of California provides for an upgrading of the status of regular drivers VTC (Uber and Lyft) in employees. Uber says in response that this law attacks its business model. The company said on this occasion that its business model would be affected by these new measures, making drivers Uber employees.

Uber is experiencing an altered social climate. The company announced 350 new layoffs last October , the third phase of a social plan started last year. Among the affected employees are employees of Uber Eats, marketing, Advanced Technologies Group and recruiting, most of whom are located in the United States and Canada.