From The Seattle Times, Michelle Baruchman reports that Uber will ay $3.4 million to settle claims that drivers may not have been paid for sick days. Michelle writes:
Uber has agreed to pay $3.4 million to more than 15,000 drivers in Seattle to settle charges that drivers may not have been compensated for their paid sick days during the coronavirus pandemic.
The ride-hailing company will give about $2.2 million in advance to drivers who had not yet used all of their paid sick time, removing one day from their available bank. About $1.2 million, which includes interest and other fees, will go toward drivers who couldn’t claim or get approved requested days off.
Last June, the Seattle City Council unanimously approved legislation mandating that app-based companies such as Uber and DoorDash offer their Seattle workers paid sick days during the pandemic.
However, following complaints from drivers that may not have been happening, Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards began an investigation into the practice.
Uber also conducted several audits and said due to issues with software, some workers were not able to access their accounts that stored information about the number of sick days they had available. Some workers also had their sick day requests canceled or were not able to immediately use them.“This has been an ongoing process for several months,” said Harry Hartfield, a spokesperson for Uber. “We’ve been working with Seattle to correct the issues and make sure drivers were paid correctly for any time they had been approved.”
Uber will also pay the city of Seattle about $11,000 in fines.
Read the full story at Uber to pay $3.4 million to Seattle drivers for unused paid sick days | The Seattle Times
