The uber case in Uruguay and the currency of the legal subordination as a central element in determining the labour nature of a relationship

Abstract

Due to new technologies, new business models have been developed and new ways of working have appeared. The peculiarity that is common to most of these new ways of providing work is that the service provider is linked to the company as a self-employed worker, although —in most cases— there are clear indications that this is not the true nature of the relationship. In order to resolve this problem, the different jurisprudential traditions have presented varied elements to identify whether the nature of the relationship is labour or not. Most have applied the classic notion of legal dependence and subordination and its characterizing elements; and others have opted for a broader notion that is not exhausted by the existence of subordination and takes into consideration other elements that are not typically labor. Taking as a reference the recent pronouncement of the Uruguayan justice regarding the issue, in this paper we intend to identify that without prejudice to the fact that there may be different labor standards (understanding by these, an all-encompassing set of elements, criteria or indications used to take the decision), legal subordination continues to be the central element in determining the employment status of the relationship.