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Comment by courtneypowell | Hacker News Reader

The real issue for Uber and Lyft may be the fact that fingerprinting puts them closer to needing to classify drivers as employees instead of contractors. They could surely solve any friction around fingerprinting, but requiring drivers to be classified as employees would put them out of business. Fingerprinting through a government clearinghouse is typically reserved for employees. IMO, they spent $8M on this local vote to delay the real issue as long as possible.

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Taxis classify their drivers as independent contractors. They are required to do fingerprinting.

> Fingerprinting through a government clearinghouse is typically reserved for employees.

Source? Financial services corporations fingerprint both their employees and contractors. I've never seen a distinction in the process for either.

The "contractor" relationship at a financial service company (in the US) is almost always structured as W-2 employee of a staff augmentation firm.

Here's an example of contractors requiring fingerprinting in a highly regulated environment pushing them to 'covered employee' status.

The requirement of fingerprinting does not in and of itself make some an 'employee' or vice versa, but there are precedents in Texas, like this example, that could inch Uber even closer to this line.

http://www.newcaneyisd.org/cms/lib5/TX01918142/Centricity/Do...

I'm also confused because similar legislation has passed elsewhere (like here in Australia) and Uber 'welcomed' it (in the sense that Uber was not made illegal) and continues to operate with the added sensible legislation.

Perhaps the rules on what constitutes an employee vs contractor are different enough that Uber feels this wouldn't be a threat? Or perhaps the incentives are different enough that it matters less.

Because it's not about finger prints: that's trivial to do. (Hell, you could probably come up with a simple lens to put on a cell phone to extract enough info to get a print... Not to mention existing services. They're lying if they say this puts too much burden and couldn't continue to operate. No, they want to keep the fiction that there are no Uber driver employees, that they're all, to use the brain-dead term working in the "sharing economy".

In Germany you need a special drivers license to commercially transport people, which is mostly a background check and regular checkups that you're physically capable for driving people around. Uber used drivers that didn't have it until they were told to stop. It just shows again how Uber is trying to prey on competitors by ignoring all regulations.

Wait, in Germany you cannot drive your family around without a special driving licence? Not all regulation makes sense...

"Commercially transport people" he said. Do you normally charge a fee when you transport your family? If so the. You are a taxi service and fall under the regulations.

The law isn't like programming. Judges typically see a difference between driving your family around driving for cash on Uber

> The Queensland government hopes to tweak legislation linked to a contentious crackdown on Uber that inadvertently made charter buses and limousines illegal as well.

> A spokesman for Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, who received legal advice, on Thursday said the threat to all pre-booked passenger vehicles needed to be removed.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/business-as...

I was reacting to "which is mostly a background check and regular checkups that you're physically capable for driving people around." Not worthy of downvotes imho.

That doesn't sound right at all. Contractors are finger-printed, background checked, etc, all the time.

Isn't one of the main questions (from the IRS) regarding an employee vs contractor the substitutability of the person? If you delegate work out, but must perform it yourself, then that's a major strike against being a contractor. Same for if you are told exactly how to do something v just what result is needed?

Search IRS 20 questions. Here a non PDF result: https://daf.csulb.edu/admin_guidelines/guidelines/independen...

I'm sure Uber is obviously more informed than me but seems like a tight line they're at. And the IRS can weigh in with their own decision, too.

I drive a few hours/month whenever & wherever I want including not at all. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to classify me as an employee.

On the other hand, this also describes the work patterns of substitute teachers in the local school district and they're classified as employees.

Not always. And the employer has quite a bit more say in what is to be performed.

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