The Uber Lyft settlement that was filed by the Attorney General Office of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was settled on 27 June 2024, the drivers may receive the payout under the settlement soon.
Uber and Lyft have proposed to resolve the lawsuit with a $175 million settlement fund, where Uber will pay $148 million and Lyft will pay $27 million. The drivers associated with the settlement can check the expected payout date and other details here.
Uber Lyft Settlement Massachusetts Payout Date
The Uber-Lyft settlement was finally resolved in June 2024, when both parties agreed to pay a combined $175 million to resolve the lawsuit with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. The settlement offers compensation to the drivers of Uber and Lyft through the app and other monetary benefits.
The Attorney General’s office is working on the settlement payment criteria, but the eligible drivers will receive the settlement payout. The Attorney General’s office has not released the disbursement process and any claiming process for the settlement payout.
However, as per the current updates, the drivers can expect the Uber Lyft Settlement Massachusetts payout in the first quarter of 2025. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office will soon release the information on the settlement payout.
What’s the Uber-Lyft Settlement about?
On July 14, 2020, the Massachusetts Attorney General filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts Suffolk Superior Court against Uber Technologies and Lyft Inc., seeking to determine whether the Uber and Lyft drivers are employees under the Massachusetts Wage and Hour Laws and thus entitled to legal protections and benefits.
The State argued on the defendant’s classification of drivers as independent contractors when they should have been tagged as employees of the company as they offer rides to the company customers through the company apps. The lawsuit claims that drivers should have basic employee protection and benefits.
Now that the multi-year settlement is resolved, the defendants have agreed to pay the settlement payout to the drivers and the other injunctive relief to the drivers, such as minimum basic pay, paid sick leave, accidental insurance, health stipends, etc.
Who will receive the Uber Lyft Settlement in Massachusetts?
According to the Uber-Lyft Massachusetts Settlement Agreement, people who meet the following eligibility conditions will receive the settlement payout:
- When you are an Uber or Lyft Driver who completed rides using their apps between 14 July 2020 and 02 July 2024.
- Current drivers of the Uber and Lyft driver apps offer rides to the passenger during the mentioned period.
Uber Lyft Massachusetts Settlement Payout
As per the current updates, Uber will pay $148 million and Lyft will pay $27 million which will be used to distribute the payout to the current and former Uber and Lyft drivers who were underpaid by the companies.
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has not released the information on the settlement payout distribution and the amount that drivers will be entitled to based on the settlement agreements.
However, the agreements have offered many benefits for the current drivers to ensure they now receive the benefits and protection as employees from the companies. The state will release more information about the Settlement payout from the $175 million fund and the claiming process in the coming weeks.
Uber-Lyft settlement benefits for current drivers
Under the Uber-Lyft Massachusetts settlement agreement, the Uber and Lyft current drivers will get the following benefits from now on:
- The current drivers of Uber and Lyft now receive a minimum wage of $32.50 for each hour they engage with the app completing the ride. The minimum wage benefits started on 15 August 2024, and they get the payment based on the engagement time, the engagement time includes accepting the trip and dropping the customer at the destination. The time includes the time the driver spent waiting for the customers and transporting the customers to a drop-off location.
- From Jan 2025, the earning floor of the drivers will increase by 3% or based on the inflation rate each year.
- The drivers are now entitled to receive the occupation accidental insurance coverage up to $1 million from 01 Oct 2024. The insurance plan covers work-related injuries and all.
- The drivers also get the guaranteed paid sick leave from 01 Nov 2024 and they can also access the health insurance benefit from 01 March 2025. The drivers can earn the highest 40 hours of sick time each year from the company, as per the agreement the sick leave earned in an hour is $20.
- Drivers will get an automatic stipend beginning January 30, 2025, which will cover their pay, payment for the state’s paid family, and healthcare program coverage.
- From 02 July 2025, Uber and Lyft drivers can receive in-chat support through the apps in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French to improve the services and make communication easy for riders and drivers.
Company Promises under the Uber Lyft Settlement Agreement
Under the Uber and Lyft Settlement, the companies have promised the following provisions under the agreement that will provide protection to the drivers, such as:
- The drivers will receive the trip information before they accept a trip from the customer, it will have information like destination, length of trip, and expected earnings from the trip.
- The company will discriminate among the drivers based on natural origin, religion, sex, gender identity, race, disability, sexual orientation, and other protected characteristics.
- The company will be obliged to perform the annual audit and provide the information to the Attorney’s General Office under the settlement agreement terms.
- The company must provide the notification and information when they have been deactivated and the drivers would have the chance to appeal the process so that they can challenge the deactivation.
- The companies can take any action against the drivers who have filed the complaint to the Attorney General’s Office and seek settlement payouts.
With the Uber-Lyft settlement, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office is trying to make the Uber and Lyft drivers’ lives easy with minimum basic pay, and all the basic benefits that an employee deserves. The drivers associated with settlement should stay tuned as the State will soon announce the claim process and payment information.