The UK’s Supreme Court has ruled that the ride-hailing app firm Uber must classify its drivers as workers rather than self-employed.

Delivering his judgment, Lord Leggatt said that the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Uber’s appeal that it was an intermediary party and stated that drivers should be considered to be working not only when driving a passenger, but whenever logged in to the app.

By this pronouncement and ruling by the Supreme Court, the ride-hailing app firm, Uber must classify its drivers as workers rather than self-employed, BBC reports.

What they are saying

The former Uber drivers, James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam, who originally won an employment tribunal against the ride-hailing giant in October 2016, told the BBC they were “thrilled and relieved” by the ruling.

Aslam, president of the App Drivers & Couriers Union (ADCU) said,

• “I think it’s a massive achievement in a way that we were able to stand up against a giant.
• “We didn’t give up and we were consistent – no matter what we went through emotionally or physically or financially, we stood our ground.
• “This is a win-win-win for drivers, passengers and cities. It means Uber now has the correct economic incentives not to oversupply the market with too many vehicles and too many drivers”

Aslam claims that Uber’s practices forced him to leave the trade as he couldn’t make ends meet is reconsidering his decision as he returns to driving for the app again, though the process is taking too long.

“It took us six years to establish what we should have got in 2015. Someone somewhere, in the government or the regulator, massively let down these workers, many of whom are in a precarious position”

Farrar, on his own part, highlighted that with fares down 80% due to the pandemic, many drivers have been struggling financially and feel trapped in Uber’s system.

• “We’re seeing many of our members earning £30 gross a day right now. The self-employment grants issued by the government only cover 80% of a driver’s profits, which isn’t even enough to pay for their costs.
• “If we had these rights today, those drivers could at least earn a minimum wage to live on.”

What you should know

• By this decision, tens of thousands of Uber drivers are set to be entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay.
• The proximate implication of this ruling is that Uber could be facing a hefty compensation bill and have wider consequences for the gig economy.
• The gig economy is based on flexible, temporary, or freelance jobs, often involving connecting with clients or customers through an online platform.
• In a long-running legal battle, Uber had appealed to the Supreme Court after losing three earlier rounds.
• The Supreme Court’s ruling that Uber has to consider its drivers “workers” from the time they log on to the app, until they log off is seen as a key point.

Uber drivers typically spend time waiting for people to book rides on the app. Previously, the firm had said that if drivers were found to be workers, then it would only count the time during journeys when a passenger is in the car.

The Canadian government has invited a total of 27,332 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence, in its latest draw held in the month of February.

On a day that has been termed “Saturday Surprise” the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited the highest ever number of express entry candidates in a single draw.

According to the newsletter published by CIC News, it also invited candidates with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score as low as 75. The lowest ever CRS score for Express Entry draws since it launched in 2015.

This shows that the Canadian government is serious about doing its best to achieve its Immigration Levels Plan target for 2021. The country is aiming to welcome 401,000 new immigrants this year and beyond.

READ: Canada invited 3,350 Express Entry Candidates to apply for PR in its April draw

What you should know

• It is worth noting that IRCC only invited CEC candidates in this draw, as it estimates that 90% of them are currently in Canada, making it easier to complete their permanent residence process.
• Canada’s Immigration Minister, Marco Mendicino had hinted recently that the IRCC will continue to rely on candidates in Canada to support its immigration levels target.
• Express Entry is not an immigration program itself, but an application management system for the three programs under the Federal High Skilled category: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class.
• In order to get into the Express Entry pool of candidates, skilled workers need to make sure they are eligible for one of these programs. If so, they will get a CRS score, which is based on their age, education, work experience, language proficiency in English or French, as well as other factors.
• Candidates who get a provincial nomination through a PNP, for example, get an additional 600 CRS points, which effectively guarantees that they will receive an ITA in an Express Entry draw.
• IRCC holds these draws about every two weeks, inviting Express Entry candidates to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

READ: Canada invites 7,200 Candidates to apply for Permanent Residency in its November draws 

This unprecedented Express Entry invitation round only required candidates to have a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of at least 75— the lowest CRS requirement ever.

The IRCC also implemented the tie-break rule, meaning candidates who had the minimum score of 75 were only included if they submitted their Express Entry profile before September 12, 2020 at 15:31 UTC.

READ: How to apply for Canadian Permanent Residency on your own 

What this means

• The increase in the number of invitations in the recent draw shows that the Canadian government is moving forward with its plan of welcoming more immigrants to the country this year.
• It serves as good news for other countries of the world and Nigerians at large who seek to travel to Canada for educational purposes or in search of greener pasture, considering the economic reality of Nigeria, increasing misery index, inflationary pressure, unemployment, amongst others.