{"id":44612,"date":"2023-08-04T19:15:17","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T23:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/news\/as-uber-drivers-complain-of-deactivations-and-policies-that-keep-us-in-poverty-company-issues-its-own-civil-rights-audit\/"},"modified":"2023-08-04T19:15:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T23:15:19","slug":"as-uber-drivers-complain-of-deactivations-and-policies-that-keep-us-in-poverty-company-issues-its-own-civil-rights-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=44612","title":{"rendered":"As Uber drivers complain of deactivations and \u2018policies that keep us in poverty,\u2019 company issues its own civil-rights audit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uber Technologies Inc. released its civil-rights audit on Friday, an outside review it agreed to undergo last year after pressure from shareholders, to mixed reactions.<\/p>\n

Shareholder groups had submitted a proposal expressing concerns about the effects of Uber\u2019s policies and practices on the civil rights of all stakeholders in the giant app-based platform \u2014 drivers, riders, employees and communities. The groups, which withdrew the proposal after the company agreed to the audit, said some of the ride-hailing giant\u2019s policies and actions, including its \u201cmisclassification of independent contractors [that] has been found to disproportionately affect racial minorities,\u201d seemed contradictory to the company\u2019s stated commitments to be anti-racist. <\/p>\n

\n

Uber
\n UBER,
\n -1.55%<\/bg-quote>,<\/span>
\n like other app-based gig companies, treats its drivers and couriers as independent contractors and has fought to change labor laws around the nation and world as it tries to keep from having to classify its workers as employees. <\/p>\n

Other shareholder concerns included: inadequate disclosure around sexual assaults on the platform; research that found evidence of racial discrimination in the company\u2019s pricing algorithm; a lack of diversity in Uber\u2019s leadership; and more.<\/p>\n

The shareholder group that led the push for the audit expressed optimism that it would lead to some changes, but pointed out lack of specifics in some areas. Others called attention to some glaring omissions.<\/p>\n

Tejal Patel, executive director of SOC Investment Group, which led the investor groups that pushed for the audit, on Friday called the audit \u201cjust a snapshot.\u201d Patel said the audit contained some good recommendations \u2014 such as consolidating the company\u2019s equity and fairness into a team \u2014 but did not delve deeply enough into some important issues, including the effects of Uber\u2019s business model and its efforts to continue to treat its drivers as independent contractors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue of misclassification is an undercurrent throughout the report,\u201d Patel said. \u201cThey brought up Proposition 22 [the voter-approved law in California that allows gig companies to avoid classifying its drivers and couriers as employees but offers them some benefits], but there\u2019s no analysis of how these policies are affecting protected classes.\u201d She added that under the law, for example, drivers are eligible for optional occupational-accident insurance, but there\u2019s no mention of cost or how many drivers have actually opted in.<\/p>\n

Veena Dubal, law professor at UC Irvine whose research focuses on law, technology and work, said Friday that the audit \u201cis a great example of how company-paid-for audits will never address the real issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it evaluates executive compensation in relationship to [diversity, equity and inclusion] goals, it completely ignores the most pressing civil rights emergency created by Uber,\u201d Dubal said. \u201cThe workers who create the company\u2019s profits \u2014 the drivers \u2014 are majority Black, immigrants and other workers of color. Uber\u2019s business model ensures that they are paid low, erratic and unpredictable wages.\u00a0 How can you investigate Uber\u2019s efforts to promote civil rights and DEI and ignore this central fact?\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the audit, Uber estimates that 49% of U.S. drivers and couriers on its platform are white, which would mean that a majority of them are people of color. Uber has said that the median hourly earnings of U.S. drivers is $34, including tips. <\/p>\n

But worker-group estimates and other studies have shown that earnings of drivers are much lower \u2014 less than minimum wage \u2014- when the expenses they incur, such as fuel, vehicle maintenance and other costs, are taken into account. \u201cThe \u2018audits\u2019 that consumers, investors and regulators need to be paying attention to are the hundreds of independent academic studies from all over the world that reveal the dangers and precarities of Uber work for migrant and racial-minority workers,\u201d Dubal said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt should not be lost on people that people of color and immigrants\u00a0are the majority of Uber drivers,\u201d said Daryush Khodadadi-Mobarakeh, worker leader with the California Gig Workers Union, on Friday. \u201cUber actively pursues policies that keep us in poverty and prevent us from having a voice on the job and a seat at the table. If Uber wants to address the issues we face daily adequately, management will meet with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uber spokesperson Noah Edwardsen did not address MarketWatch\u2019s questions about criticisms of the audit on Friday, saying only that \u201cthe assessment highlights many existing strengths, including expanding access to mobility options and the establishment of our Marketplace Fairness and Product Equity teams. It also offers recommendations to further improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The audit mentions a widespread issue among Uber drivers, which is deactivations\u2014 or getting kicked off the platform and being unable to earn either temporarily or permanently. The issue has affected platform workers so much that cities and states have proposed or adopted ordinances and laws that try to address it. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome drivers have suggested that the deactivation process has had a disparate impact on drivers of color,\u201d said the audit, which mentioned that the company has \u201ca global team that governs and oversees the deactivation process, including an established team to review deactivation appeals.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cUber is in the process of reviewing and evaluating its deactivation policies to help improve the experience for drivers, including drivers of color,\u201d the audit also said.<\/p>\n

From our archives (April 2023): <\/strong>Uber drivers say they\u2019re \u2018totally dependent\u2019 on their income \u2014 but risk being deactivated at any time<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of us have experienced temporary or permanent bans from driving inexplicably and without warning,\u201d said Khodadadi-Mobarakeh of the Gig Workers Union. \u201cWe have no process to appeal these bans, and often we have no knowledge that we have even received notice of our deactivation until after the fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edwardsen did not respond to several specific questions about deactivations and the other driver-related issues and recommendations in the audit, including about a timeline for addressing them. \u201cWhere appropriate we\u2019ll work to implement recommendations immediately, and a working group will be established to assess the remaining recommendations and work on implementation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The audit, conducted by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the law firm he now works for, Covington & Burling, offers several recommendations related to the civil rights of Uber drivers and couriers, who make up the overwhelming majority of the workers central to the company\u2019s business. In the United States, Uber has more than 1 million drivers and couriers, and about 11,000 corporate employees, according to the civil-rights audit, which focused on the company\u2019s U.S. business.<\/p>\n

Covington & Burling did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Among the other driver-focused recommendations in the audit:<\/p>\n