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Uber faces collective action over dynamic pay as UK drivers claim £5,300 annual income reduction
- Perry Richardson
- 41 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Uber is facing a collective legal action on behalf of drivers across seven European countries over allegations surrounding its dynamic pay and work allocation systems.
Worker Info Exchange International has filed the action at the Amsterdam District Court on behalf of drivers in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Romania.
The proceedings have been brought in the Netherlands, where Uber B.V. is established. According to Worker Info Exchange International, Uber B.V. is the joint controller responsible for Uber driver personal data across the European Economic Area and UK.
The organisation alleges that Uber’s dynamic pay and work allocation systems qualify as automated decisions that significantly affect drivers and breach protections provided under Article 22 of the GDPR.
The claim also challenges Uber’s processing of drivers’ personal data to develop and operate artificial intelligence and machine learning systems. Worker Info Exchange International further alleges that Uber unlawfully transferred driver personal data outside the EU without the safeguards required to protect drivers’ rights.
Worker Info Exchange International is seeking compensation for alleged harm suffered by affected drivers as well as injunctive relief aimed at preventing the alleged harm from continuing.
At the core of the claim is the way Uber determines driver pay and distributes work. Worker Info Exchange International says that since 2020, Uber has gradually moved away from a pay model based on fixed rates for the time and distance of individual trips.
According to the organisation, this has been replaced by highly variable pay determined dynamically in real time using parameters which it says are neither disclosed to nor understood by drivers.
Worker Info Exchange International says work allocation has undergone a similar change, moving from relatively simple matching based predominantly on a driver’s location and estimated arrival time towards increasingly complex algorithmic allocation.
The organisation commissioned international economics consultancy Oxera to provide an independent expert opinion on the financial damage it says has been caused by the introduction of dynamic pay.
Based on driver data from the UK and Netherlands, Oxera found that affected UK Uber drivers had, on average, seen their incomes reduced by £5,300 per year to date since 2021. In real terms, hourly pay for affected UK drivers was found to have fallen by £3.44 an hour.
For Uber drivers in the Netherlands affected by dynamic pay, Oxera found an average income reduction of €7,500 per year to date since 2022. In real terms, hourly pay was found to have fallen by €7.15.
The figures are findings commissioned by Worker Info Exchange International and form part of its case concerning the alleged impact of dynamic pay.
Worker Info Exchange International also argues that Uber’s adoption of technologies using artificial intelligence and machine learning has resulted in more intensive workforce surveillance and processing of personal data, while information supplied to drivers about those systems has become increasingly opaque.
It alleges that Uber’s workforce surveillance and decision-making technologies seek not only to predict how drivers will behave but also to influence and manage their behaviour.
The organisation says work and earnings have consequently become increasingly unpredictable, with many drivers having to work longer hours to compensate for reduced pay.
James Farrar, Director of Worker Info Exchange International, said: “It’s bad enough that Uber’s dynamic pay algorithms have squeezed driver pay for years now, but the intrusive and underhanded way in which Uber uses its technology to monitor and influence drivers’ behaviour is an affront to their dignity as workers and as human beings.
“By participating in this collective action for algorithmic justice, Uber drivers are not only protecting their own interests; they are also setting boundaries for big tech companies: the law must be obeyed, and workers and the communities that economically depend upon them must be respected.”
The claim has been filed at the Amsterdam District Court under the Dutch collective action regime, known as WAMCA.
Worker Info Exchange International said it will continue working with Uber drivers, trade unions and worker organisations during the proceedings. Uber drivers are also being invited by the organisation to sign up to participate in the collective action.
