SA ride-hailing business faces legal speed bump
The next frontier of labour relations in SA: the employment status of workers contracted to gig economy firms such as Uber and Bolt
A recent US court ruling to make Uber drivers full-time employees may embolden gig economy workers around the world to seek similar status. But SA’s two largest ride-hailing providers seem confident that this is unlikely to happen locally.Last month, a court in the US ruled that Uber should convert the status of its drivers — it calls them independent contractors — in California to full-time employees, with benefits. There’s no doubt that the ride-hailing giant will contest the ruling, but it does open a can of worms for a company notorious for its poor treatment of drivers.Regardless of whether this ruling will be upheld over time, the possibility of drivers becoming employees is now a reality.Legally in SA, gig economy workers are not subject to employment law."But the relationship is open to legal challenge because it resembles employment to a significant degree and SA courts have declared ‘independent contractors’ to be ‘employees’ in some cases," points out points out Richard H...
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