"Self-employed employees": FDP demands new work status for Uber drivers

The controversy surrounding the US ride-hailing service Uber is reaching the political arena. From the ranks of the Free Democrats comes the call to soften the boundary between paid work and self-employment. FDP National Councillor Philippe Nantermod is advocating the creation of a new work status, that of the "self-employed employee". This should be tailored to platform employees such as Uber drivers and offer flat-rate social security protection. "The current classification into the categories 'self-employed' and 'employed' falls short," Nantermod criticizes in the current issue of Handelszeitung. It robs those affected of flexibility and creates legal uncertainty.

The approach meets with approval in the Federal Council. The government is willing to examine the introduction of the status of "self-employed employee". At the same time, it recently gave the green light to a project that is intended to clarify whether social law needs to be made more flexible in the course of digitization. Meanwhile, the unions are already going on the barricades. "The creation of a third status is intended to dilute the current social security protection for employees," criticizes SP National Councilor Corrado Pardini. The Uber case shows that platform workers should be classified as employees - and not as self-employed, as Suva has also found.