By Brenda Flanagan
Correspondent
“My job is great on paper, but when you actually do it, it’s a whole different ball game,” said Uber driver Patrick McManus.
McManus drives his Honda Accord for Uber. He’s happy to hear the ride-sharing company’s getting sued in New Jersey by a former Uber driver who says he got fed up with low pay, long hours and no overtime and filed a class action lawsuit accusing Uber of “unlawful wage policies and practices.”
“They lower the rates, you end up working more hours,” McManus said. “And you just have to keep working those hours, because the pay is so little. They say you’re going to be busier, but you can only do so many rides in an hour.”
McManus makes 85 cents a mile — that’s before Uber takes a 25 percent commission — before subtracting expenses. He claims that while Uber boasts drivers can earn more than $30 an hour, he actually takes about $13 an hour home — where he lives with his girlfriend and daughter.
“If I really want to make ends meet, it’s probably going to be 60 to 70 hours a week,” he said.
His story echoes the lawsuit filed by Jaswinder Singh of Hazlet who claims he “regularly worked at least 60 hours per workweek” and “completely relied on Defendant for work (i.e. driving assignments); he was not engaged in an independently-established business” but asserts drivers had “to bear most of the expenses of their employment, including expenses for their vehicles, gas, tolls, mobile phones and other expenses without reimbursing them for same.”
“I feel like an employee,” McManus said. “Sometimes they guarantee hours. You have to drive during these certain times.”
He agrees with Singh, that Uber drivers are not independent contractors, as Uber contends, but regular employees and “…are entitled to overtime compensation as required by the New Jersey wage laws.” The suit joins a flood of similar suits filed in many states after Uber recently agreed to pay $100 million in compensation and change some policies to settle cases in California and Massachusetts. Drivers remain independent contractors under those settlements. But McManus wants more from Uber — like full insurance coverage.
“They’ll cover the car, they’ll cover the passenger, but they won’t cover us,” McManus said. “It doesn’t seem like they really care too much about their drivers. I guess to get attention we have to band together and join this class action.”
New Jersey lawmakers have sponsored a bill pushing Uber to provide insurance and fingerprint drivers.
“And I would predict that you will see additional legislation, as we move through this first phase of Uber regulation and look at things such as employee status in the future,” said Assemblyman John Wisniewski.
Uber won’t comment. Neither will the attorney or plaintiff who filed the lawsuit against Uber in New Jersey. Their court appearance is set for July in federal court in Trenton.