"French court orders Uber to pay some $18 mln to drivers, company to appeal", 20 Jan 2023

[A] French court on Friday ordered Uber (UBER.N) to pay around 17 million euros ($18.43 million) in damages and lost salaries to a group of drivers who argued they should have been treated like employees rather than self-employed...

"This is a huge victory after a long legal battle which started in 2020", said lawyer Stephane Teyssier who represented the 139 drivers that had brought the case before the Conseil des Prud'hommes labour court in Lyon.

The court decided that the work relationship of his clients should have been qualified as employment contracts, which means that Uber should have reimbursed them for professional expenses like the purchase of a car, fuel and overtime...

Uber said it would appeal, adding: "We are determined to make progress on the issue of platform workers' rights and are convinced that the right way forward is through social dialogue with drivers' representatives."

The ruling only applies to the past and does not mean the drivers necessarily have employee status going forward...

The Uber spokesperson said it was the company's aim "to build a model that preserves the flexibility they want while guaranteeing concrete improvements in their working conditions"...