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Uber to pay $3.4M to 15K Seattle drivers

By Michelle Baruchman, The Seattle Times
Published: June 25, 2021, 1:52pm

SEATTLE — 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.

Under the sick-pay bill, drivers and delivery people working in Seattle should have received some sick days upfront and accrued one sick day for every 30 days worked. Pay during sick days would be based on a driver’s daily average in their top-earning month since October.

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.

Uber will also pay the city of Seattle about $11,000 in fines.

Peter Kuel, who has driven for Uber and Lyft since 2014 and is president of the drivers union that advocates for ride-hailing workers, said enabling drivers to stay home if they are sick is “a precedent-setting victory for the labor movement.”

Papa Diawara, an immigrant from Mali who has driven for Uber for seven years, said he took three days off to support his wife who had emergency surgery but didn’t get paid for it. “It was tough for me. I had to go work more hours to make money to help my wife. It was hard going back and forth.”

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