Uber has been one of the most successful start-ups in Silicon Valley, but it’s also been a case study for how to not treat your workers. Here’s what the company has made headlines for the past few years:
- It offered subprime, exploitative auto loans to attract drivers.
- Its drivers are paid so little that they work 19-hour shifts to make end’s meet.
- It lied about drivers’ earnings.
- It’s paying hundreds of millions of dollars to keep paying its drivers nothing.
- It allegedly has a culture of sexual harassment.
- It took advantage of cab drivers’ travel ban boycott of JFK airport.
- Its CEO continues to make blunder after blunder.
But now, Uber is actually taking a step toward potentially making things better for its employees: it’s allowing passengers to tip drivers, as is already the case with Uber competitor Lyft.
Uber is enabling passengers to tip its U.S. drivers with a tap on its ride-hailing app for the first time, part of a push to recast itself as a company with a conscience and a heart.
Besides the built-in tipping option announced Tuesday, Uber is giving drivers an opportunity to make more money in other ways.
Riders will be charged by the minute if they keep an Uber driver waiting for more than two minutes. Uber also is reducing the time that riders have to cancel a ride to avoid being slapped with a $5 fee from five minutes to two minutes after summoning a driver.
Uber won’t take any part of the tips given drivers. The San Francisco company will continue to collect a portion of ride-cancellation fees, as well as the new waiting-time charges.
That’s a good step! Now, to fix all the other issues …
[LA Times]
