Uber drivers “employees” for unemployment purposes, NY labor board says

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New York City's largest taxi driver advocacy group is hailing a legal decision by the New York State Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, which ruled last Friday that three out-of-work Uber drivers can be considered employees for the purpose of unemployment benefits. The decision was first reported Thursday by Politico.

In other words, three men-and possibly other "similarly situated" Uber drivers who had quit over low pay or who were deactivated from the Uber platform-can get paid.

"The decision means that New York Uber drivers can file for unemployment insurance and likely receive it," Veena Dubal, a labor law professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, emailed Ars.

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