HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that people who work for rideshare companies like Uber are employees of the company, not independent contractors or self-employed.
A local lawyer says that means people who are out of work right now, can collect unemployment benefits and also drive for Uber to make some extra cash.
"You can get laid off or fired and you can still work and you can do the uber and still get paid," said Scott Cooper, attorney at Schmidt Kramer.
Up until this latest ruling, people who tried to drive for Uber or other companies to make ends meet were putting their unemployment benefits at risk.
"They were trying to kick him off unemployment because they were saying he was self-employed while he was a Uber driver," said Cooper.
With the latest Pennsylvania unemployment rate in the double digits and thousands of people still waiting for unemployment benefits, this ruling is timely.
"From a legal stance, he's now eligible for unemployment compensation."
This case will go back to the unemployment compensation board to determine just how much in unemployment benefits this Uber driver will now receive.
The lawyer says the payments will likely be significantly less than what he would get if he wasn't working for Uber.