Are Uber Drivers Employees?

Are Uber drivers employees? No. In Australia, Uber drivers are independent contractors, and every Fair Work decision on Uber since 2017 has landed the same way. What has changed is that drivers are now also “employee-like” workers, a new legal category that gives them some protections without making them employees.

Here’s the catch most people miss. Uber has spent years and serious legal money designing its model so the contractor label holds up. If you run a business that uses drivers, your setup almost certainly looks different, and the rules that protect Uber might not protect you.

Are Uber drivers employees or independent contractors in Australia?

Independent contractors. Three separate decisions have tested whether Uber drivers are employees, and all three said no.

The first was Kaseris v Rasier Pacific V.O.F [2017]. A driver who was deactivated tried to bring an unfair dismissal claim. The Fair Work Commission threw it out, finding he wasn’t an employee in the first place. The key facts were simple: he chose when to log on, could reject any trip, used his own car and could drive for competitors.

One detail from that case deserves more attention than it gets. Uber’s agreement banned drivers from displaying Uber logos or wearing Uber uniforms. That sounds backwards for a brand, but it was deliberate. Branding someone as part of your business is a classic sign of employment.

In June 2019, the Fair Work Ombudsman finished a two-year investigation. It found drivers had no obligation to perform work and controlled whether, when and for how long they drove. No compliance action followed. Then in 2020, a Full Bench of the Commission reached the same result for an Uber Eats delivery worker in the Gupta case (we covered the Uber Eats unfair dismissal appeal at the time).

Year	Decision or change	What it meant for drivers
2017	Kaseris (Fair Work Commission)	Rideshare driver not an employee, so no unfair dismissal claim
2019	Fair Work Ombudsman investigation closes	No employment relationship found, no action taken
2020	Gupta (Full Bench)	Uber Eats courier not an employee
2022	High Court: Personnel Contracting and Jamsek	Written contract becomes the starting point
2024	Closing Loopholes No. 2 reforms start (26 August)	Whole of relationship test returns, “employee-like” category created
2025	Unfair deactivation scheme starts (26 February)	Drivers can challenge being kicked off the app
2026	First minimum standards order (17 August)	Pay floor, insurance and dispute rights for app-based delivery work

How does the law decide if a driver is an employee?

Since 26 August 2024, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) has used a “whole of relationship” test in section 15AA. The question is the real substance, practical reality and true nature of the relationship. The contract still counts, but so does how the work actually runs day to day.

That reversed the 2022 High Court approach, where a well-drafted written contract was usually decisive. A lot of articles still describe the old “contract first” rule. Don’t rely on them. If your paperwork says contractor but your operations say employee, operations win.

These are the indicators the Commission weighs:

Indicator	Points to contractor	Points to employee
Control over hours	Logs on and off whenever they like	Rostered shifts or set availability
Accepting work	Can reject any job without penalty	Must take the jobs they’re given
Equipment	Supplies their own vehicle and phone	Drives your van on your fuel card
Exclusivity	Free to work for competitors	Barred from other platforms
Delegation	Can send someone else to do the job	Must do the work personally
Branding	Presents as their own business	Wears your uniform and logo
Payment	Paid per job or result	Paid a daily or hourly rate
Risk	Carries costs, fines and insurance	Business absorbs the costs

No single factor decides it. Uber drivers tick almost every box in the contractor column, which is why Uber keeps winning. Most small delivery businesses tick a mix, and that’s where the trouble starts.

One more wrinkle. The whole of relationship test applies to “constitutionally covered” businesses, which includes most Pty Ltd companies. Contractors earning above the contractor high income threshold ($190,100 from 1 July 2026) can opt out in writing. Rideshare and delivery drivers rarely earn anywhere near that.

What is an “employee-like” worker, and are Uber drivers one?

An employee-like worker is a contractor who does paid work through a digital labour platform and shows at least two employee-style traits. Those traits include low bargaining power, pay at or below what an employee would earn for comparable work, and little authority over how the work gets done.

Most Uber drivers and couriers fit. So do many workers on Uber Eats, DoorDash, Menulog and similar apps.

The most common wrong assumption we hear? That “employee-like” is a halfway step to employment. It isn’t. An employee-like worker stays a contractor. They get no annual leave, no sick leave and no award. What they get is a floor: minimum standards the Commission can set, protection from unfair deactivation, and access to collective bargaining.

Do Uber drivers get a minimum wage now?

It depends which Uber. This is the part almost every other guide gets wrong or skips.

Uber Eats couriers now have a pay floor. The first minimum standards order took effect on 17 August 2026, covering app-based delivery of food, drinks, alcohol and groceries. It came out of close to two years of negotiation between the Transport Workers’ Union, Uber Eats and DoorDash.

The floor is set per hour of “engaged time”, which means time spent completing a delivery. Time spent logged in and waiting mostly doesn’t count. Platforms can average earnings over a period of up to 21 days and top up any shortfall afterwards.

Vehicle	Minimum rate per engaged hour (17 August to 31 December 2026)
No vehicle, bicycle, e-bike or e-scooter	$31.30
Motorcycle or combustion scooter	$31.50
Car or van (up to 1 tonne)	$32.00

Platforms must also fund personal accident insurance, keep records, consult workers and offer dispute resolution. Note what’s missing: the driver still pays for fuel, the car and any fines.

Uber rideshare drivers, the ones carrying passengers, are not covered by that order. Separate applications for rideshare and last-mile parcel delivery are still before the Commission. Expect the delivery order to shape what comes next, but until a rideshare order is made, there’s no legal minimum rate for rideshare trips.

Question	Uber rideshare driver	Uber Eats courier
Employee?	No	No
Employee-like worker?	In most cases, yes	In most cases, yes
Minimum pay floor?	Not yet (application underway)	Yes, from 17 August 2026
Platform-funded accident insurance?	Not under an order yet	Yes
Unfair deactivation protection?	Yes, if eligible	Yes, if eligible
GST registration?	Required from the first dollar	Standard $75,000 threshold applies

Can Uber deactivate a driver without a reason?

Not anymore, at least not for eligible drivers. Since 26 February 2025, employee-like workers can apply to the Commission for an unfair deactivation remedy. Think of it as unfair dismissal adapted for apps.

To be eligible, a driver must have worked through the platform on a regular basis for at least six months and earn under the contractor high income threshold. The Commission then asks two things. Was there a valid reason, based on conduct or capacity? And did the platform follow the Digital Labour Platform Deactivation Code, which requires warnings and a chance to respond?

Early decisions show the scheme has teeth, but it’s no free pass. In one 2025 case, a worker who did Uber Eats deliveries and then switched to rideshare had both periods counted toward the six months, because both ran through the same Uber app. In others, the Commission dismissed claims from workers who hadn’t worked regularly enough, or upheld deactivations where the platform had followed the warning process properly.

If the Commission finds a deactivation unfair, it can order the platform to reactivate the driver and pay lost earnings. Compensation beyond lost pay isn’t available.

Employee, contractor or employee-like: what actually changes?

Entitlement	Employee	Contractor	Employee-like worker
Minimum pay	Award or national minimum wage	Whatever is negotiated	Only where a minimum standards order applies
Paid leave	Yes	No	No (unpaid “time away” under the delivery order)
Superannuation	Yes	Sometimes, if paid mainly for labour	Sometimes, same test as contractors
Tax	PAYG withheld by employer	Own tax, ABN, possibly GST	Own tax, ABN, possibly GST
Ending the relationship	Unfair dismissal	Contract terms	Unfair deactivation
Insurance	Workers’ compensation	Arranges their own	Accident cover where an order requires it

Notice the superannuation row. It trips up more business owners than anything else on this list, and it’s covered in the consultation section below. For the broader picture, our guide on the difference between a contractor and an employee walks through each entitlement.

What does this mean if your business uses drivers?

This is where the Uber answer stops being useful. Uber drivers are not employees because Uber built its whole operation around driver freedom. Your courier run, removals business or delivery startup probably wasn’t built that way. You need reliability, and reliability tends to look like control.

Get it wrong and the law calls it sham contracting. Misrepresenting an employment relationship as a contracting one is a civil penalty contravention under the Fair Work Act. On top of penalties, you can owe back pay, leave, super and PAYG you should have withheld.

Before you engage your next driver, run through this:

1. Can drivers accept or decline jobs without being penalised? If you need guaranteed availability, you’re describing a roster.
2. Whose vehicle, fuel and phone are they using? Supplying the van is one of the strongest employee signals there is.
3. Can they work for competitors, including during your peak hours?
4. Can they send a qualified substitute in their place?
5. Are you paying per delivery or per result, rather than per day?
6. Have you removed uniforms and mandatory branding from the arrangement?
7. Does your written agreement match all of the above, in practice and not just on paper?

Several “no” answers mean you have two honest options. Restructure so drivers have real freedom, or employ them. A casual Employment Agreement (Casual) is often the cleaner fit for businesses that need drivers on set runs. If a contractor model genuinely suits you, document it properly with a Contractor Agreement (Individual) that reflects how the work really happens.

Building an app of your own? If your platform arranges work for individuals, you may be a digital labour platform operator. That brings the deactivation rules, and possibly future minimum standards orders, straight to your door.

What we see in Lawpath consultations

Lawpath lawyers and accountants regularly advise courier companies, logistics operators and founders building gig platforms. The same five patterns come up again and again.

The “ABN means contractor” myth. The most common setup we review looks like this. Drivers are on ABNs, but they drive company vans, fill up on company fuel cards, work rostered weekdays and can’t work for competitors. Our lawyers are blunt about it: that’s employment in substance, and since 2024 a contractor agreement alone won’t save it.

Super catches people off guard. Founders assume super only applies to employees. But the super guarantee has its own test. If a contract is wholly or principally for someone’s labour, super can be payable even when the worker is a genuine contractor. You also can’t contract out of it. The most you can do is state that fees are inclusive of any super payable.

Aggressive pay clauses backfire. We often see driver agreements that withhold the first few weeks of pay, charge drivers “downtime” for vehicle faults they didn’t cause, or allow broad set-offs. These terms invite disputes and can be challenged as unfair. They also make the arrangement look more like employment, not less.

Uniforms quietly shift the balance. Business owners love a branded fleet. Our lawyers routinely advise removing uniform and logo requirements from contractor arrangements, which is exactly the approach Uber took in the agreement tested in Kaseris.

State rules add another layer. Workers’ compensation is state-based, with its own “deemed worker” tests. In Victoria in particular, our lawyers warn delivery businesses that ABN drivers can be deemed workers for WorkCover purposes. Fair Work classification isn’t the only test you have to pass.

If you drive for Uber, what should you sort out?

You’re running a small business, whether it feels like one or not. A few things make that much easier.

Rideshare drivers need an ABN and must register for GST from the first dollar. The usual $75,000 threshold doesn’t apply to ride-sourcing. Food delivery is treated differently, and our guide on whether you need to pay GST for Uber Eats explains how.

Set aside a slice of every payout for tax and GST. Keep a separate bank account and log your kilometres. Check that your car insurance actually covers rideshare use, because a standard personal policy may not.

Finally, keep your own records of when you work. If you’re ever deactivated, proving six months of regular work is much easier with your own logs.

FAQs about whether Uber drivers are employees

Are Uber drivers employees in Australia?

No. Uber drivers are independent contractors. The Fair Work Commission confirmed this in 2017, and the Fair Work Ombudsman reached the same view in 2019. Since August 2024 they’re also treated as “employee-like” workers, which gives them some protections without making them employees.

Do Uber drivers get the minimum wage?

Uber Eats couriers do, in a sense. Since 17 August 2026 they’ve had a pay floor starting at $31.30 per engaged hour. Rideshare drivers don’t yet, although an application for rideshare minimum standards is before the Fair Work Commission.

Does being “employee-like” make a driver an employee?

No. An employee-like worker stays an independent contractor. They don’t get paid leave or award rates. They get minimum standards where an order applies, unfair deactivation protection and access to collective bargaining.

Do Uber drivers get superannuation?

Not as employees. Super can still apply to contractors whose contract is wholly or principally for their labour, but that test turns on the specific arrangement. If you engage drivers directly, get advice before assuming super doesn’t apply.

Can Uber drivers challenge being deactivated?

Yes, if they’re eligible. A driver who has worked regularly through the app for at least six months and earns under the contractor high income threshold can apply to the Fair Work Commission. It can order reactivation and payment of lost earnings.

Do Uber drivers need to register for GST?

Rideshare drivers do, from their first dollar of income, regardless of turnover. They also need an ABN. Food delivery drivers follow the standard $75,000 GST registration threshold.

If Uber drivers are contractors, can my delivery drivers be contractors too?

Only if your arrangement works like Uber’s in practice. If you roster drivers, supply vehicles, require uniforms or ban them from other work, they may be employees under the whole of relationship test, whatever your contract says.

Are Uber Eats drivers treated the same as Uber rideshare drivers?

Mostly, but not entirely. Both are contractors and usually employee-like workers. Only Uber Eats couriers are covered by the 2026 minimum standards order, and GST rules differ between delivery and rideshare work.

Getting your driver setup right

If you’ve read this far and spotted a few problems in your own setup, good. That’s the point. Most businesses we speak to only look at this after a dispute, and you’re doing it before one.

You don’t need to overhaul everything today. Pick the model that honestly fits how your drivers work, then get the paperwork to match. If you’d like a second opinion first, a Lawpath employment lawyer can review your arrangement for a fixed fee.

Start your Contractor Agreement today and have it ready before your next driver starts.