Uber Drivers Are Employees, N.Y. Labor Department Finds

The New York Labor Department determined that two former drivers for Uber Technologies Inc. are employees eligible for unemployment compensation, a driver advocacy group announced Oct. 13.

The two drivers are the first in New York to be found to be Uber employees in an unemployment insurance context, Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, told reporters outside the department’s New York City office.

The determinations, made Aug. 29 and Sept. 8, came after a worker classification lawsuit was filed July 28 by the two drivers and the alliance, seeking to prod the state to investigate ...