In the past five years, Uber, the ridesharing company, has boomed and is now a prominent company in the world, with a $51-billion stock valuation. As a company, Uber identifies itself only as an app on smartphones that connects drivers to passengers. They do not control the drivers’ working hours and therefore do not identify as an employer.

These drivers that work for Uber are not considered as employees, but are classified as  independent contractors, meaning that these drivers do not get the usual benefits that most employees receive from their employers.

It is wrong for Uber to classify their drivers as independent contractors. Uber is dependent on its drivers, and without drivers, Uber’s capital would drop tremendously.

Today, many people make their sole living off of Uber’s services. According to the Wall Street Journal, there are approximately 160,000 Uber drivers in the United States alone. It is very unfair that although these many people work with Uber, they do not receive any benefits.

In May 2016, after Uber driver James Welton was fired for having a low driver rating, a $100 million class-action lawsuit was opened. The purpose of this lawsuit was to settle Uber drivers as employees instead of independent contractors. Although some policy changes occurred with this settlement, this settlement failed to change the employment statuses of Uber drivers. This settlement benefits Uber since it helps the company save money rather than spending it on employee’s benefits.

As independent contractors, Uber drivers are not protected from the laws, including anti-discrimination laws, that protect other employees from the workplace. Independent contractors are also not entitled to worker’s compensation and unemployment benefits. If  an Uber driver unfortunately gets into a severe accident, they would not be able to receive wage replacements nor medical benefits. They would have to pay for their own accident and medical bills out of their own pockets. On top of that all, if they get injured and are not able to drive anymore, they don’t have any other source of income.

It is also cruel that independent contractors are not assigned work hours. On one hand, that may be good, but on the other hand, these workers are not assigned any breaks and do not have normal work schedules. They work as long as they have trips. Therefore, they can go one day without work, and another day with long hours.

Uber is a company that only cares about profit and not about the people who make their profit possible. A stop should soon be placed on this unjust situation, and Uber drivers should be considered employees.