HEAAADERLOGORIGHT

BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ISSUES · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

UBER AND
THE LAW
QrrkoD Scan to review worksheet

Expemo code:
1AQM-G1R9-R3K9

1 Warm up

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Have you ever used Uber or a riding sharing app? If so, what was your experience like?
2. What do you think are the positives of working as an Uber driver?
3. What do you think are the negatives to working as an Uber driver?

2 Finding vocabulary

Find vocabulary in the article on page two with the same meaning as the following definitions.

1. start an organisation or company (v, para. A)

2. a special type of court to deal with problems in work situations (n, para. B)

3. a legal document which details the conditions and pay of a job (n, para. B)

4. the language used in a particular situation, often in a legal situation (n, para.
B)
5. state that something is true in an argument (v, para. B)

6. money paid for a travel service (n, para. C)

7. a legal decision by a court (n, para. C)

8. the lowest amount of pay required so that people can buy the basics needed
for life (n, para. C)

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 1/6

Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Rawan Ghazy's lessons.
 HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

UBER AND THE LAW

Driver on demand
Uber and the law
A. Uber was established in San Francisco in 2009 using technology that allowed customers to call a car and driver to
their home via an app on their phone. It began using luxury black cars, but by 2012, they had launched UberX, a
cheaper option which allowed drivers to use their personal cars. The idea was very successful and spread across
the world, changing the way people used transport and allowing people to make extra money by working as drivers
in their spare time, although for some, it was a full-time role.

B. In 2016, James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam, two drivers for Uber took a claim against the company to the Employment
Tribunal in London over their lack of basic worker’s rights. Uber argued that they were not actually employed by
the company, but instead worked for themselves as private businesses. They pointed to there being two contracts:
one between the driver and the company, and one between the driver and the passenger. The wording of the Uber
contract meant that drivers were actually customers of Uber, who allowed them to use their app for a fee. Then
separately, the passengers were customers of the driver. Uber contended that they were not providing transport,
but the software.

C. The Tribunal disagreed. This was on the basis that, despite their arguments that Uber didn’t employ the drivers,
they were in control of their pay. Uber decides how much the fare is for each ride, and does not tell the driver
of each passenger’s destination before they are picked up, taking away the opportunity to decline. Uber can also
decide if fares are refunded in part or entirely if a passenger complains. Drivers are also forced to sign a contract
before working for Uber which they do not have the power to change. There was also a legal ruling that drivers
are employed while they have the app on and are ready to pick up passengers, not just during a journey. Mr Farrar
said during the case that in August 2015, he had made just £5.03 per hour due to the way pay was calculated,
well below the minimum wage. The decision by the tribunal means that drivers are now entitled to holiday pay,
paid rest breaks and will receive the national minimum wage.

D. In the United States in February 2021, the Supreme Court agreed with the tribunal that drivers were, in fact,
employees of Uber and therefore subject to benefits and a guaranteed wage. This is likely to affect other companies
that have similar ways of employing people on other apps.

Sources: BBC, The Guardian

FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 2/6

Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Rawan Ghazy's lessons.
 HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

UBER AND THE LAW

3 Skimming for gist

You are going to read the article "Driver on demand". Match the following events to the year that
they happened.

1. Uber became a company

2. UberX was added to Uber’s services

3. James Farrar’s pay was below the legal amount

4. A legal claim was made against Uber

5. The Supreme court in the United States made a ruling against Uber

4 Reading comprehension
Part A: Read the article again and complete the following sentences with one, two or three words.

1. Prior to 2012, Uber’s service was limited to .

2. People working for Uber were able to earn in their free time outside
of their main job.

3. Uber argued that drivers were not their employees but were , meaning
that they were not responsible for the money they made.

4. Uber said that they provided and didn’t actually offer transport
themselves.

5. Uber drivers can’t a ride based on the fare as they are not told how
much it will be beforehand.

6. The tribunal’s decision means that as well as receiving holiday pay and paid rest breaks, they are
also to the national minimum wage.

7. The Supreme court also said that Uber drivers should receive as
well as paid time off.

Part B: Now, decide if the following statements are True (T), False (F), or Not Given (NG).

1. Uber Drivers were all working for the company as a second job.

2. Uber drivers pay to use the app.

3. Some Uber drivers made a lot of money from the service.

4. Uber cars are cheaper than traditional taxis.

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 3/6

Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Rawan Ghazy's lessons.
 HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

UBER AND THE LAW

5 Focus on vocabulary

Part A: Match the vocabulary to the definitions.

1. complexity (n) a. return money to a person or organisation that it has been

borrowed from
2. operate (v) b. the degree of difficulty that something has

3. conceive (v) c. create an idea or plan in your head

4. nonsense (adj.) d. use a machine or system

5. feedback (n) e. the act of having people who will make an argument for you in a
legal situation
6. pay back (phr. v) f. information about the quality of a service or work after it has
been experienced
7. representation (n) g. make people work in a way that harms them in some way, but
benefits you
8. exploit (v) h. believing information to be completely untrue or stupid

Part B: Now complete the following sentences with a different part of speech from the same word
family as the Part A vocabulary in brackets.

1. The contract is very and I had to get my lawyer to read it carefully. (complexity)

2. We’re setting up a new in Europe next year and they’ve asked me to go over there
to supervise it. (operate)

3. I was working under the that I was going to be paid at the end of each month,
when in fact it was at the end of the contract. (conceive)

4. I thought their advice was completely . I really don’t think they know what they
are talking about. (nonsense)

5. I’ll watch his presentation this afternoon and to him afterwards, but I think he’ll
do really well. (feedback)

6. I think he cancelled her business trip to the Caribbean as for the comments she
made during his presentation. (pay back)

7. It’s important to remember that even when you’re away, you still the company
and so must be professional at all times. (representation)

8. The company has been heavily criticised for the of its workers who claim they are
not allowed to take breaks during 12-hour days. (exploit)

FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 4/6

Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Rawan Ghazy's lessons.
 HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

UBER AND THE LAW

6 Listening for details

Listen to two people talking about working for Uber. Tick the correct box in the table to show which
of the words from the vocabulary each speaker uses.

Matteus Asif

1. conceive

2. complexity

3. exploit

4. feedback

5. nonsense

6. operate

7. pay back

8. representation

7 Listening comprehension

Complete the notes on the listening with one or two words or numbers.

Matteus

1 2
Drives for Uber for per week. Also runs his own . Thinks that the
3
new regulations will mean Uber will leave the country. Believes the law needs to find
to work and not just try to keep the traditional business model.

Asif

4 5
Works for Uber . Disagrees with the idea that he is an business as
6
Uber controls his pay. Can’t drive a taxi instead as his money is already in his car.
7 8
Sometimes drives per day and makes only per hour. Unable to make
9
enough money to support family or run his car. Thinks the law has been to change.

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 5/6

Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Rawan Ghazy's lessons.
 HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

UBER AND THE LAW

8 Talking point

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

9 Extended activity/Homework

Read the following question.

The amount of pay that someone receives has nothing to do with the government, but should
be between the employer and the employee. If someone is happy to work for £2 per hour,
then they should be able to do so. Setting a minimum wage means that some employers will
not be able to afford to give people work which negatively affects workers.

To what extent do you agree with the above statement?

You should:

• write at least 250 words,

• check your grammar, spelling and punctuation.

FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 6/6

Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Rawan Ghazy's lessons.
 HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
TEACHER MATERIALS · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

UBER AND THE LAW

Transcripts

6. Listening for details

Interviewer: Following the ruling of the tribunal on Uber this week, we’ve got Asif and Matteus in the
studio, both drivers with Uber to talk about what the ruling means for them. Welcome
to both of you!

M and A: Thank you!

Interviewer: Matteus, let’s start with you. What is your view on the situation?

Matteus: I’m worried, to be honest. I have a number of other jobs and I drive for Uber maybe 10
hours per week or so. I am a partner in a small business I have, so sometimes I can’t
drive for several days or maybe even a week or so because I’ll be busy with that. The
way Uber works suits me because when I have some time, I can just go out and make
some money. Now that this has happened, there’s going to be a lot more complexity.
I don’t want to work for Uber, I want to be my own boss. I don’t want to have to ask
permission about when I’m working and not working. With these new regulations, I
don’t know if Uber will be able to operate in this country any more. This wasn’t how
the business was conceived. I think the law is trying to make it a traditional business
and we need to find new ways of working.

Asif: I have to say I disagree entirely. I’ve been working for Uber for several years now. This
is my full-time job. I go out each morning and I never know how much I will make. What
Uber is saying is that all of this transport in London is just a thousands of independent
businesses. That’s nonsense! Our pay comes from Uber. They can decide to take it
away, they can decide how much we make, they can take us off the app if we get bad
feedback. There’s nothing independent about that.

Interviewer: Can I ask though, Asif, if this is how you feel, why didn’t you go and work for a taxi
company?

Asif: I already invested all of my money in my car. I’m still paying back the money I borrowed
for this from the bank and sometimes, I’m driving 10 hours a day and I make about five
pounds an hour. You can’t run a car on that. You can’t feed a family on that. And for us,
there is no representation. I don’t even know any other Uber drivers to talk to about it.
I think what Uber has done is to find a modern way to exploit people. When factories
first started, it was the same. Poor people worked all day long for very little money
because they had no choice. This is the same, but the law has been too slow to realise.
Now finally, there’s some hope.

Interviewer: Thank you both for your time today and we will be taking questions from callers on the
topic if you can both stay for a while. We’ll be right back after these ads.

FOOOOTERAPPENDIXRIGHT
Learn without forgetting! i
Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Rawan Ghazy's lessons.
 HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
TEACHER MATERIALS · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

UBER AND THE LAW

Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
Elicit the meaning of Uber and ask students to discuss the questions which look at their experience and cover
some of the points in the article.

2. Finding vocabulary

5 mins.
This provides support with some of the higher-level vocabulary in the article and focuses on useful vocabulary for
further discussion.

1. establish 2. tribunal 3. contract 4. wording

5. contend 6. fare 7. ruling 8. minimum wage
Sources:
www.bbc.com/news/business-56123668
www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/19/uber-drivers-workers-uk-supreme-court-rules-rights

3. Skimming for gist

5 mins.
You may want to set a strict time limit on this task to encourage students to skim read rather than read in detail.

1. 2009 2. 2012 3. 2015 4. 2016 5. 2021

4. Reading comprehension

10 mins.
Part A
Ask students to read more carefully and complete the exercises. For Part A, ask them to find one, two or three
consecutive words in the article that will complete the sentences. For Part B, ask them to underline where they
find the answer. If they are unable to do so, the answer will be Not Given.

1. luxury black cars 2. extra money 3. private businesses

4. software 5. decline 6. entitled
7. a guaranteed wage

Part B

1. False. "...for some, it was a full-time role."

2. True. "The wording of the Uber contract meant that drivers were actually customers of Uber, who allowed
them to use their app for a fee."
3. Not Given.
4. Not Given.

FOOOOTERAPPENDIXLEFT
Learn without forgetting! ii
Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Rawan Ghazy's lessons.
 HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
TEACHER MATERIALS · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

UBER AND THE LAW

5. Focus on vocabulary

Part A
5 mins.
This looks at vocabulary used in the listening task. Ask students to complete the task unaided in the first instance
but allow them to use a reference later if needed. Be sure that students can correctly pronounce the target
vocabulary.

1. → b. 2. → d. 3. → c. 4. → h. 5. → f. 6. → a. 7. → e. 8. → g.
Part B
10 mins.
This task aims to increase students’ vocabulary by asking them to find parts of speech connected to the target
vocabulary. Allow them to use a dictionary for this exercise.

1. complex (adj.) 2. operation (n) 3. misconception (n) 4. nonsensical (adj.)

5. feedback (v) 6. payback (n) 7. represent (v) 8. exploitation (n)

6. Listening for details

5 mins.
This gives students an opportunity to listen to the audio for the first time and identify the target vocabulary being
used in context.
Answers to the table:
Matteus → 1, 2, 6; Asif → 3, 4, 5, 7, 8

7. Listening comprehension

5 mins.
Ask students to complete the notes as best they can after the first listening and then listen again to check their
answers.

1. 10 hours 2. small business 3. new ways

4. full-time 5. independent 6. invested
7. 10 hours 8. five pounds/£5 9. too slow

8. Talking point

10 mins.
Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Circulate and help as needed.

9. Extended activity/Homework

40 mins+.
You may want to ask students to research ideas about the minimum wage at home before writing the essay. Ask
students to plan, write and edit their essays. Be sure to give them feedback on their work.

FOOOOTERAPPENDIXRIGHT
Learn without forgetting! iii
Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Rawan Ghazy's lessons.