"Uber and Lyft score victory in California gig economy case," 25 July 2024

California’s supreme court has upheld a landmark ruling that permits gig economy companies to treat workers as independent contractors...

...Labour rights groups that have sought... to overturn a... law known as Proposition 22.

The law allows gig economy companies to treat their workers as independent contractors rather than employees, a decision that California citizens voted decisively in favour of in 2020...

Uber said [the] decision confirmed “the will of the nearly 10mn Californians who voted to deliver historic benefits and protections to drivers, while protecting their independence”...

Drivers’ “freedom to work when and how they want is now firmly etched into California law, putting an end to misguided attempts to force them into an employment model that they overwhelmingly do not want”, Uber said...

The supreme court’s decision marks the final stage of a years-long challenge in the California courts by individual drivers and the Service Employees International Union that sought to overturn Prop 22...