Toulouse: three Uber drivers before the industrial tribunal to assert their rights
Three VTC drivers ask the court to take into account their relationship of subordination to Uber.
This Tuesday, May 24, three Toulouse VTC drivers and their lawyer will plead their case before the Toulouse labor court. These drivers have worked for years with the Uber smartphone app. The latter connects drivers with customers, thanks to geolocation technology. Drivers now want to prove that a real relationship of subordination exists between Uber and them. That Uber acts as a real employer, and that real employee status should be granted to them.
A court decision in their favor would give them the protection of the Labor Code, and the social benefits: paid leave, minimum wage, reimbursement of mileage, compliance with maximum working hours, payment of overtime, night work or work on Sunday.
French courts are beginning to consider such requests. The Court of Cassation revealed, in 2020, that a relationship of subordination could exist between Uber and its drivers. The Paris Court of Appeal has confirmed this position on several occasions. On April 26, the Nantes industrial tribunal ordered Uber to pay €75,000 to a driver. The judges considered that he was not independent but indeed salaried. In detail, €40,000 will be paid for mileage allowances, €10,500 for concealed work and nearly €9,000 in damages.