Meh. I'm sure Uber is spending more than that trying to get pro-Uber legislation passed at the state level. I wonder how long it will take them to get their money back considering how tiny the population of AK is.
I was speaking to someone the other day who is very knowledgable in the workers comp realm and was told that based on the laws regarding workers comp, cab drivers by law are technically considered employees but there is a loophole that allows cab companies to classify their drivers as IC's only if they provide workers comp. This is why workers comp coverage is added into driver lease payments. Without them drivers are considered employees.
Example 9 in this link states:
ABC Taxi Company Inc. has medallions for 10 taxis. Cab drivers pay a fixed fee to lease the taxis on a daily basis. The taxi drivers are generally considered employees of ABC Taxi Company Inc under the Workers' Compensation Law. Any dispatcher, taxi owner or medallion broker who does not personally drive the taxi 40 or more hours per week must have a workers' compensation insurance policy to cover the drivers of the taxi. In addition, for the lessee to be considered an independent contractor, the owner-operator may not control, direct, supervise, or have the power to hire or fire such lessee (WCL §2 [4]). (Taxi Cabs)
This could be where Uber got themselves into trouble in California and possibly Alaska (depending on how the laws are in those states). Based on the last sentence, Uber might be stuck between providing workers comp for all drivers/giving up driver control and having drivers listed as employees. Paying the fine was probably their way of refusing to give up control over their drivers and save face with regulators in Alaska.
I'm not a lawyer by any means so feel free to correct anything that is incorrect here but I would assume that either way, Uber is going to be required at some point to provide workers comp unless they change that law which I don't see happening.
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