Re:How Estimates of the Gig Economy Went Wrong
by rchaud on Wednesday January 09, 2019 @12:17PM
(#18866534)
Restaurants are responsible for reporting the formal wages paid by the restaurant to the staff, which can be counted, tracked and reported to the IRS.
Cash tips paid to the server are essentially invisible to the employer. This is an accepted trade-off in a system where restaurants can pay below minimum wage.
An Uber customer cannot pay cash. They pay Uber first (fare + optional tip) and Uber in turn pays the drivers. So they know with 100% certainty how much money is changing hands. For a company that is worth literally billions, having a basic financial reporting system that calculates the government's cut is not some kind of overbearing regulatory hassle.
Cash tips paid to the server are essentially invisible to the employer. This is an accepted trade-off in a system where restaurants can pay below minimum wage.
An Uber customer cannot pay cash. They pay Uber first (fare + optional tip) and Uber in turn pays the drivers. So they know with 100% certainty how much money is changing hands. For a company that is worth literally billions, having a basic financial reporting system that calculates the government's cut is not some kind of overbearing regulatory hassle.