Uber drivers

· founded 2009

see the full file on Uber drivers

documented benefits (8)

Benefits for contractorsUNITED STATES, and you buy it yourself. Uber maintains commercial auto insurance on a driver's behalf while online, en route and on trip, but the cover for the DRIVER'S OWN injuries - Optional Injury Protection - is optional, is only offered in some states, and is paid for by the driver. Where available it pays disability payments, medical expenses with no deductibles, and survivor benefits to family members. There is no employer-provided health insurance attached to driving.
Guaranteed earnings floorCALIFORNIA ONLY. Since Proposition 22 (Business and Professions Code s7453, effective 16 December 2020) a network company operating in California must top a driver up to a 'net earnings floor' each pay period: 120% of the applicable minimum wage for all ENGAGED TIME, plus a per-mile vehicle-expense payment (30 cents per engaged mile in 2021, inflation-adjusted since). Engaged time is what the law counts - time spent waiting for a request is outside the guarantee. Tips are the driver's and cannot be used to reach the floor. Outside California and the city and state minimum-pay laws (Seattle, Washington state, New York City) Uber guarantees no floor at all.
Schedule protectionSEATTLE. The schedule is yours by law here, not by policy: Seattle's App-Based Worker Minimum Payment Ordinance gives covered app-based workers the right to reach the platform without limits (except for health and safety), the right NOT to be penalised for limiting their availability or turning down offers, and the right to cancel an offer with cause. That last protection matters because refusing work is how acceptance-rate scoring normally bites. Seattle city law only - elsewhere the flexibility exists because the contract says so, not because anything stops the company changing it.
How you are engagedUNITED KINGDOM: not a contractor. In Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5 the UK Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Uber's appeal and held that private hire drivers using the Uber app are 'workers' under the Employment Rights Act 1996, the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and the Working Time Regulations 1998 - so they are entitled to the national minimum wage, paid annual leave and related protections. The Court also held that working time is not only time carrying a passenger: it includes any period the driver is logged into the app in the territory they are licensed for and ready and willing to accept trips. The judgment rejected Uber's written contracts as the starting point, finding drivers 'in a position of subordination and dependency'. This is UK law and changes nothing in the United States, where Uber engages drivers as independent contractors.
Degree paid upfrontUber Pro carries 100% tuition coverage at Arizona State University online - paid upfront, not reimbursed - but it is gated behind STATUS, not behind driving at all. The reward table shows it at Platinum and Diamond only; Blue and Gold drivers get nothing. Status is earned on points over a rolling 3-month period and requires keeping star ratings high, cancellation rate low and acceptance rate high, and requirements vary by city. So the degree is real, and it is conditional on hitting performance metrics quarter after quarter.
No experience neededNot a first job for most teenagers. Beyond meeting your state's minimum driving age, Uber requires at least one year of licensed driving experience in the US - and THREE years if you are under 25. You need a valid US driver's licence, proof of residency, proof of vehicle insurance if using your own car, an eligible 4-door vehicle and a driver profile photo, then a screening of your driving record and criminal history. No prior work experience of any kind is asked for.
Hours a week to qualifyCALIFORNIA. Under Proposition 22 the quarterly healthcare subsidy is a threshold benefit measured in ENGAGED TIME, not hours logged in: average 25 or more engaged hours a week across a calendar quarter and the company owes at least 100% of the average ACA contribution toward a Covered California premium; average at least 15 but under 25 and it is 50%; under 15, nothing at all. Waiting for a request does not count toward the threshold. The subsidy is paid within 15 days of the quarter end and the company can require proof you are enrolled in a health plan first.
Works around classesThere is no rota and no shift to swap: you go online in the Driver app when you want work, which is why Uber markets driving as an alternative to part-time and seasonal jobs rather than as one. Recorded here as Uber's own claim about the arrangement, not a scheduling guarantee - the hours are genuinely yours, but so is the risk that the hours you are free are the hours with no demand, and the 3-years-driving requirement for under-25s rules most students out of the job entirely.

notable perks

the legal floor where they are

Set by law, not by Uber drivers. It applies to every employer in CA.

IVF cycles the state coversCalifornia requires IVF from 1 January 2026, and only from large employers. SB 729 (2024) rewrote Health and Safety Code § 1374.55 so that a large group health care service plan contract 'issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and fertility services, including a maximum of three completed oocyte retrievals with unlimited embryo transfers', following ASRM guidelines and using single embryo transfer where medically appropriate. Large group means 100 or more employees. Small group plans need only be OFFERED the coverage rather than provide it, religious employers are excluded, Medi-Cal managed care is exempt, and CalPERS plans are delayed to 1 July 2027. The original 1 July 2025 date was pushed back a budget trailer bill, AB 116 (2025). THE LIMIT THAT DECIDES WHETHER THIS REACHES YOU: a state insurance mandate binds only fully insured plans. A self-funded employer plan is governed federally under ERISA and is preempted, and KFF's 2025 employer survey puts 67% of covered workers — 80% at firms of 200 or more — in a self-funded plan. At most large California employers this law therefore does not apply, and the fertility benefit on the page is the company's own choice. (Senate Bill 729 (2024), which repealed and added Section 1374.55 of the Health and Safety Code and amended Section 10119.6 of the Insurance Code; the operative date was moved from 1 July 2025 to 1 January 2026 by Assembly Bill 116 (2025).)
Adoption leave the law gives12 workweeks of UNPAID job-protected leave in any 12-month period on the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, and only for employees who meet the FMLA eligibility test. There is no federal paid adoption leave. (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(B) and 2612(c); eligibility at 29 U.S.C. 2611(2) and (4). Quoted from the 2023 edition of the US Code.)
Pay when you are illNo federal law requires any paid sick leave. The FLSA does not require payment for time not worked, and the FMLA gives 12 workweeks of UNPAID job-protected leave in any 12-month period for a serious health condition, and only for employees who meet the FMLA eligibility test. Any paid sick time comes from a state or city law, or from the employer's own choice. (Fair Labor Standards Act, per the Department of Labor's statement on payment for time not worked; Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(D) and 2612(c). Quoted from the 2023 edition of the US Code on govinfo.gov.)

Every claim above is sourced and dated. See sources on the full page.

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