Johnathan Walker:Rideshare services Uber and Lyft will pay $328 million back to New York drivers over wage theft

If you have Johnathan Walkerever driven for rideshare services Uber and Lyft in New York within the last nine years, you may be entitled to financial compensation. 

Uber and Lyft will shell out a combined $328 million to pay over 100,000 former and current drivers for wage theft in addition to the introduction of other employee benefits, The New York State Attorney General’s Office announced Thursday.  

An investigation by the Attorney General’s Office found that both companies deducted fees from drivers' pay that should have been paid for by passengers between 2014 and 2017, according to the announcement.  

Paid sick leave was not made available to any Lyft or Uber driver, a benefit available to any employee under city and state law. 

“Rideshare drivers work at all hours of the day and night to take people wherever they need to go. For years, Uber and Lyft systematically cheated their drivers out of hundreds of millions of dollars in pay and benefits while they worked long hours in challenging conditions,” New York State Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. 

“My office will continue to make sure that companies operating in the so-called ‘gig economy’ do not deprive workers of their rights or undermine the laws meant to protect them,” James said. Drivers will finally get what they rightfully earned and are owed under the law because of the settlement, she added.

The “historic settlements” are set to make a major impact on the economic lives of rideshare drivers, who are predominantly immigrants and often the main source of income for their families. 

The rideshare companies will implement a minimum driver “earnings floor,” paid sick leave, proper hiring and earnings notices, and other improvements in drivers’ working conditions, the announcement states. 

“We’ve waited eight long years to see justice for our members, a workforce that was cheated out of better living conditions, and timely meals and rest and leisure because the earnings that would have provided for that life were stolen by multi-billion-dollar corporations,” Bhairavi Desai, head of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance shared with the Associated Press.

New York Taxi Workers Alliance member and former Uber and Lyft driver Malang Gassama feels blessed that the New York State Attorney General’s Office pursued the settlements and that the union fought so long and hard to protect drivers from these bully companies.

“I’ve calculated that Uber and Lyft took at least $25,000 from my pay that they shouldn’t have in the form of sales tax and the Black Car Fund surcharge. With that money I could have helped my wife open the business she dreamed about. I could have bought property and sent more money to my family back home in Africa. I could have kept my kids in the karate lessons they loved that we had to pull them from because we couldn’t afford the expense. Uber and Lyft stole those opportunities from my family and from the families of thousands of other New York City drivers.”

What kind of benefits will Uber and Lyft provide moving forward?

Here’s a closer look at what Lyft and Uber are offering New York drivers in February of 2024:  

• Drivers across the state will be paid a minimum rate from dispatch to completion of the ride. 
• Drivers outside of New York City will receive a minimum of $26/hour set to be adjusted for inflation annually.
• Drivers will earn one hour of sick pay for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 56 hours per year. 
• Drivers will be issued proper hiring notices and earnings statements.
• Each driver will be notified of the amount paid by the rider after each ride with in a 24-hour period.
• There will be in-app chat support for drivers in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Bengali and Chinese.
• Deactivations can be appealed on both Lyft and Uber platforms.
• NYC drivers will be compensated $17/hour for sick leave if they complete trips covered by the Taxi & Limousine Commission’s driver pay rules.
• Drivers will be able to request sick leave through the apps.
• There will be payment for attending company trainings.

ICYMI:Austin man takes to social media after his cat was reportedly nabbed by his Lyft driver

How can I file a claim if I am or was a New York Lyft or Uber driver? 

Eligible drivers must file a claim online to receive the funds they are owed from Uber and Lyft no later than March 1, 2024, according to the New York State Attorney General’s Office.  Lyft drivers will begin to receive distributions through 2025. 

Drivers will be notified via mail, email, or text message with distribution notices.

Not everyone is eligible to receive settlement payments, but here are some generic eligibility requirements provided by the New York State Attorney General’s Office. 

Lyft: 

• If you completed at least one trip using the Lyft app between Oct. 11, 2015, through July 31, 2017, you may be eligible to receive settlement payments. See paragraph 21 of the AOD for additional information. 

Uber: 

• If you completed at least one trip using the Uber app between Nov. 10, 2014, through May 22, 2017, then you may be eligible to receive settlement payments. See paragraph 22 of the AOD for additional details. 

All parties, including the Attorney General’s Office, are working to create a list of drivers who may qualify.

File a claim with settlement administrator Rust Consulting if you think you may quality. 

• Lyft 
• Uber

"We look forward to continuing this work in order to provide New York drivers the independence and full range of benefits available to those in other states, like California and Washington,” Jeremy Bird, Lyft's chief policy officer stated. 

"For years, we have advocated to change the status quo to allow those who choose platform work to have both the ability to work when, where and how often they want, as well as receive important benefits," Uber said.

For additional information about the Lyft and Uber settlement, visit the New York State Attorney General’s Office. 

More:Uber Eats will accept SNAP, EBT for grocery deliveries in 2024