Uber Will Pay Drivers $3.4 Million in a Settlement Over Backwages and Sick Pay
Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards reached a $3.4 million settlement with Uber to resolve claims for back wages and unpaid sick leave. The money, the labor standard’s office said, will cover unpaid claims from 15,000 local Uber drivers.
“I am so grateful to have advocates standing up for driver rights,” Uber driver Jamel Jara said in a statement issued by the labor standards office. Jara will receive compensation under the agreement. “Having access to paid sick days during this pandemic means we can keep our customers and our families safe and healthy.”
The settlement comes under the city’s Paid Sick and Safe Time for Gig Workers Ordinance, the 2012 regulation that requires Seattle employers to fund sick days for staff at the rate of one day for every 30 calendar days worked. Since its initial approval, the labor standards office has expanded the eligible employees’ group to include gig workers and it added to the list of acceptable reasons to take accrued leave.
