A California court has given Uber and Lyft until the middle of next week to reclassify drivers as employees in compliance with a new state law.
The order came Monday when a judge granted a restraining order in a lawsuit filed by California attorney general Xavier Becerra and three cities including San Francisco, where Lyft and Uber are based.
The suit calls on the companies to comply with a state law that went into effect at the start of this year that requires “gig workers” such as Uber and Lyft drivers to be classified as employees, eligible for unemployment, medical and other benefits.
“The court has weighed in and agreed: Uber and Lyft need to put a stop to unlawful misclassification of their drivers while our litigation continues,” Becerra said in a release.
“While this fight still has a long way to go, we’re pushing ahead to make sure the people of California get the workplace protections they deserve.”
Uber is backing a referendum in the state to overturn the law, while pledging to provide benefits for a social safety net that would keep gig workers independent.
The judge wrote in the ruling that Uber and Lyft could not indefinitely put off their “day of reckoning” when it came to complying with the law.
Uber has argued that most of its drivers want to remain independent even if they also are looking for benefits.
Lyft vowed to appeal the judge’s ruling, referring to the court battle as a fight for driver independence.
“Drivers do not want to be employees, full stop,” Lyft said in response to an AFP inquiry.
“Ultimately, we believe this issue will be decided by California voters and that they will side with drivers.”
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