Techcrunch blog!: Daily Crunch - Uber to treat UK drivers as workers

Wednesday, March 17, 2021 • By Anthony Ha

Uber changes driver classification following a legal defeat in the U.K., Facebook says it will crack down on rule-breaking Groups and Snap makes an e-commerce acquisition. This is your Daily Crunch for March 17, 2021.

The big story: Uber to treat UK drivers as workers

Following a Supreme Court ruling, Uber said it will classify all drivers in the United Kingdom as workers — a category between self-employed and employed that entitles those designated to a minimum wage and holiday pay.

That doesn’t mean the dispute is fully resolved, however. Uber said that it will calculate working time starting when drivers accept a trip, excluding the time after they’ve signed into the app and are waiting for a ride. A statement by the App Drivers and Couriers Union described the company’s new approach as “a day late and a dollar short, literally.”

The big story: Uber to treat UK drivers as workers image

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The tech giants

In expanded crackdown, Facebook increases penalties for rule-breaking groups and their members — The changes follow what has been a steady, but slow and sometimes ineffective crackdown on Facebook Groups that produce and share harmful, polarizing or even dangerous content.

Snap acquires Fit Analytics, a fitting technology startup, to double down on fashion and e-commerce — Fit Analytics has built technology to help shoppers find the right-sized apparel and footwear from online retailers.

Apple Maps updated with COVID-19 vaccination locations in the US — To access this information through a voice command, users can ask Siri something like "where can I get a COVID vaccination?" which will direct them to Maps.

Image Credits: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto / Getty Images

Startups, funding and venture capital

Incredibuild gets $140M to speed up games and other software development with distributed processing tech — Incredibuild is a private tech company, but it has been around since 2000, and it counts Epic, Microsoft and Nintendo as clients.

SoftBank-backed Indian insurance platform Policybazaar raises $75M — Policybazaar is among a handful of startups that is attempting to upend India's insurance market, which is largely commanded by state and bank-backed insurers.

The Robinhood competitor landscape intensifies as Invstr raises $20M — Via social gamification, Invstr has set out to make the financial educational process fun.

Startups, funding and venture capital image

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Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Dear Sophie: What type of visa should we get to fundraise in Silicon Valley? — The latest edition of “Dear Sophie," the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.

How to recruit data scientists without paying top dollar — When it comes to building a data science team, many companies fail at the first step: creating a job posting.

Olo prices IPO sharply above its target, valuing company as high as $4.6B — We're checking in on the price investors paid for a block of Olo shares before it began trading.

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