Uber drivers are self-employed contractors and not employees, according to a Belgian government analysis, which bolsters Uber’s argument that it is a technology company and not a transportation provider.
“They have their own car, they drive when they want to and they don’t have hours that they have to work, that’s why they’re self-employed and not working for Uber,” said Bart Tommelein, Belgian secretary for combating social fraud, privacy and the North Sea.
“Uber drivers are just like 84 percent of regular self-employed taxi drivers,” he added. “I am absolutely pro-innovation and new business models, but I have always said that Uber must abide by the rules like everyone else.”
Taxi drivers in Belgium disagree and had already announced they would protest Uber in Brussels Wednesday.
By contrast, last week a California employment regulator ruled differently, claiming an Uber driver acted more like an employee than a contractor, and ordered Uber to pay unemployment benefits.
Several European countries are grappling with the question, including the U.K., where the taxi union has filed a lawsuit. A Spanish judge has asked the European Court of Justice to rule on the matter.