In many places it is illegal to ask someone to drive if that's not their explicit job.
Either way, not sure how you can equate asking something of an employee and asking the same from a gig worker. Uber has broken the law in plenty of places, and have always tried to wing it.
'Being forced' is doing a lot of work in that statement.
What if I'm asked to drive an employee and I willingly want to help out and drive someone around, and I then simply file expenses and get reimbursed for mileage?
Are taxi companies going to sue every company that has ever done something like that? Two sales reps in one car driving around – sue them as well?
What you're doing is bad-faith arguing. There's a clear difference between someone doing something in a very limited capacity and a company that's basing their entire revenue on the same thing.
For instance, me recommending to a colleague some off-the-shelf painkiller or someone without a medical license doing this through an app are not the same thing.
Yea, you're right there. Uber has absolutely crossed the rubicon between 'gig workers' getting paid to drive someone around a few times a week as a side hustle, to being a full blown transport company.
I do think it's interesting to see how different countries/states etc. legislate Uber though because you can make a lot of arguments that they are doing things in a novel way.
Either way, not sure how you can equate asking something of an employee and asking the same from a gig worker. Uber has broken the law in plenty of places, and have always tried to wing it.