Sharon reported on Thursday that a programmer and Uber Eats food delivery worker had developed a tool that he claimed provided evidence that the food delivery service had been paying low wages to drivers.
Armin Samii is a computer scientist who worked at the self-driving car company Argo AI until recently and has been working part-time at Uber Eats since leaving. He built a Chrome browser extension called “UberCheats” , The program can help drivers track trips and make payments, and Sharon said that initial data shows that Uber makes delivery guys short on 25% to 30% of trips.
Samii told Business Insider that he used four days of the latest data, including communications from about 160 Uber Eats drivers and bicycle delivery companies. He estimated that Uber paid 21% less workers in the number of trips (he will It is defined as the app underestimating the number of workers)’At least half a mile).
Like most food delivery workers, Uber Eats drivers and bicycle couriers are paid partly based on mileage. Samii told Business Insider that his data shows that in 21% of all their trips, they pay less on average. Up to 1.3 miles of compensation tracking tool.
Samii told Salon that after several round trips with Uber customer service, they admitted that it was a mistake and paid him the actual salary he deserved, but according to the data he collected: “This is quite common and very ridiculous. And I I don’t think Uber has any solutions.”
A spokesperson for Uber Eats told Business Insider: “Just like the person ordering food can know how much to pay in advance, the courier will receive advance payment for many factors, one of which is the estimated distance of the most effective delivery route. “We know that the actual travel distance may be different from this estimate, but we will try our best to provide the courier with all the information, such as their choice to accept the previous pick-up location and fare.”
An Uber Eats spokesperson also said that in an update at the end of 2019, the app began to show comprehensive salary estimates before drivers and couriers accept orders that incorporate the boarding and alighting rates, as well as estimates of how much they need to complete their work. time. Orders, and how far they might go.
Food delivery, grocery delivery, and ride-hailing apps are notorious for using opaque and evolving algorithms to determine workers’ wages, leading many people to claim that their income is below the minimum wage and rely heavily on tipping, even before the pandemic broke out .
This is not the first time delivery workers have complained about Uber Eats’ pay structure. Last fall, Uber introduced a change, they said, tempting them to participate in less profitable trips, thereby reducing wages.
During the pandemic, some delivery workers said their wages were further compressed. With millions of unemployed Americans turning to food delivery and grocery apps (Uber says its food delivery business has surpassed ride-hailing services for the first time, and Instacart says it has attracted 750,000 new shoppers), this faction is splitting among more people. Get a cup of pie. At the same time, as essential workers, workers are facing major health risks, and they cannot get medical care, sick pay or paid vacation.
This stems from their status as independent contractors rather than employees, which is the subject of major legal and political battles between Uber, Lyft, several food delivery companies, and state regulators. Last week, a court ruled that Uber and Lyft drivers are employees of the state’s performance work law AB-5, but after both companies threatened to suspend service in the state, the order was temporarily postponed on Thursday, and the company An appeal was filed against this ruling.
Post time: May-18-2021