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Comment by thoraway1010 | Hacker News Reader

Can lyft drivers work for uber? I've seen that happen I think.

This seems different than google employees working for microsoft - which I think would be prohibited.

If these workers are misclassified will they have to work for just one company? Will uber/lyft then be able to set their working hours?

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You raise an interesting point. It seems that having a legal framework in which gig economy workers can work for multiple companies may be important to facilitate competition between those companies.

If the workers are locked to a single company, then entry to the market becomes much more difficult for new competitors.

I definitely want gig workers to be paid fairly and to enjoy a generous social safety net, but it's good to keep such potential unintended consequences in mind as well.

CA employment law does not allow a company to universally ban moonlighting and fire you unlike most other states. They can only do that if it interferes with your work, or it creates a conflict of interest

Typically employees are prohibited from simultaneously working for competing companies, due to conflicts of interest.

Do you think that an Uber driver driving for Lyft can be construed as a "conflict of interest"?

Not any more than working part time at, say, two different restaurants, which is common.

It appears that it is legal for employers in California to prohibit their employees from working for competitors, as an explicitly defined exception to its Moonlighting law.

Working for a competitor is not automatically a conflict of interest. Working at two restaurants, or two retail stores, or driving passengers would all likely not be a conflict of interest

That's not what someone paying on a W2 basis is going to say. Is this is a winning arguement in front of a jury? I worked for company A and then started working for company B - their direct and primary competitor (!!) AT THE SAME TIME I WAS WORKING AND GETTING PAID by company a(uber and lyft drivers drive for both at same time).

Even if not at the same time, if Company A is having to pay for the vehicle or whatever other costs and equipment are being used - in what world can someone driving the comcast truck start installing for AT&T?

This logic is so twisted.

Legally there is a big difference between using your personal car and getting reimbursed, and working for two different companies at different times throughout the same day, and working for two companies at the same time. If you are not handling trade secrets or making decisions for the business a conflict of interest is much less likely.

The letter and spirit of the law are two different things though.

The letter of the law is how lawsuits are won.

Typically my drivers do both and pick up whichever ride comes first. In the past Uber got in trouble for trying to ban this practice with shady techniques.

If you mean historically, drivers have worked for both Uber and Lyft. I don't what would happen if they became W-2 employees. Being in W-2 sounds kind of like simultaneously working at Taco Bell and Burger King, running between restaurants depending on which has more customers.

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