加州法院認為 Uber 與 Lyft 的司機是員工

先前在其他地區已經有很多判例了,這次會特別記錄下來是因為加州是 UberLyft 的總部:「Uber and Lyft ordered by California judge to classify drivers as employees」。

裡面有提到了去年九月加州政府通過了法案 (California Assembly Bill 5,簡稱 AB 5),把 ABC Test 放進法律,取代了之前的 Borello test,用來判斷聘顧關係 (是否為員工,或是獨立的合約關係):

Under the ABC test, a worker is considered an employee and not an independent contractor, unless the hiring entity satisfies all three of the following conditions:

  • The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact;
  • The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and
  • The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.

現在需要這三點都成立才會認定為獨立的合約聘顧關係,雖然還有上訴的機會,但翻盤的機率應該不高,記得這個法案當初就是針對 Uber 跟 Lyft...

兩則跟 Uber 有關的消息,裁員與加州的新法...

Uber 從上市後的股價就不太好看,五月的時候以 $45 開盤,最近來到了 $33 左右,走到裁員這步不算太意外:「Uber lays off 435 people across engineering and product teams」。

以人數來算大約是 8%,有蠻大一部份是工程團段 (也不太意外):

Uber has laid off 435 employees across its product and engineering teams, the company announced today. Combined, the layoffs represent about 8% of the organization, with 170 people leaving the product team and 265 people leaving the engineering team.

另外一個相關的消息是加州通過法律,補上漏洞,對於這種以「合約關係」而認為不是員工的行為加以約束,認定這其實就是聘顧關係,所以相關的資方義務都必須被履行:「California Bill Makes App-Based Companies Treat Workers as Employees」。

法律上的官方文件可以參考「AB-5 Worker status: employees and independent contractors.」這邊,先用翻譯快速看了一下... 可以看出來勞方市場的行業被放進排除條款,因為這些領域勞方有比較強勢的談判籌碼,應該讓市場決定規則。而對於資方強勢的行業則是朝著保護勞工的條款而設計。

現在已經有感覺共享經濟的神話開始不斷的被戳破...

加州也禁止詢問之前的薪資了

在「California bosses can no longer ask you about your previous salary」這邊看到的消息。繼「麻州立法禁止詢問前一份工作的薪資」與「紐約市也將禁止雇主詢問薪資」後,加州也加入了這個行列。

The salary privacy bill, was enacted by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday, Oct. 12, at a celebratory signing ceremony at Women’s Empowerment, a Sacramento nonprofit for homeless women. He was surrounded by members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus.

法案將於 2018 年生效:

The salary privacy bill takes effect on January 1, 2018.

新墨西哥州禁止因為學童付不起營養午餐,就要求他們以勞力付出

禁止這類變相的羞辱行為:「New Mexico Outlaws School ‘Lunch Shaming’」。

In some schools, children are forced to clean cafeteria tables in front of their peers to pay the debt. Other schools require cafeteria workers to take a child’s hot food and throw it in the trash if he doesn’t have the money to pay for it.

法案包括了所有有接受補助的學校:

On Thursday, Gov. Susana Martinez signed the Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights, which directs schools to work with parents to pay their debts or sign up for federal meal assistance and puts an end to practices meant to embarrass children. It applies to public, private and religious schools that receive federal subsidies for students’ breakfasts and lunches.

麻州立法禁止詢問前一份工作的薪資

雖然利用談判技巧是可以避開 (在你有本錢談判的情況下),麻州直接立法禁止了,這對於求職者來說相當重要:「Illegal in Massachusetts: Asking Your Salary in a Job Interview」。

The new law will require hiring managers to state a compensation figure upfront — based on what an applicant’s worth is to the company, rather than on what he or she made in a previous position.

法案是「Bill S.2119」,可以看到「An Act to establish pay equity」的說明,應該是指目標之類的。

裡面的幾個重點,首先是生效日期:

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2018.

然後是求職期間的禁止行為:

(3) seek the salary history of any prospective employee from any current or former employer; provided, however, that a prospective employee may provide written authorization to a prospective employer to confirm prior wages, including benefits or other compensation or salary history only after any offer of employment with compensation has been made to the prospective employee;

接下來應該會有更多州制定類似的條款...

VENUE Act 對專利蟑螂的反擊

EFF 的「We Can't Keep Waiting: Pass the VENUE Act This Year」這篇寫的還蠻清楚的,VENUE Act (S. 2733) 是一個看起來頗有效的 workaround,先上這個 workaround 降低專利蟑螂的攻勢。

專利蟑螂 (通常是原告) 可以選擇任意一個聯邦法庭提出控告:

As the law stands now, patent owners have almost complete control over which federal district to file a case in. That’s a major problem.

而專利蟑螂會挑選對原告最有利的地區來提出控告,也就是美國德克薩斯東區聯邦地區法院 (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas),這對被告方很不利:

According to the Mercatus Center and George Mason University, nearly half of all patent cases are filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. That’s more than 70 times the average number of patent cases heard in other federal judicial districts.

Respected academics have identified evidence that procedures in the Eastern District of Texas unnecessarily favor plaintiffs and impose significant, unnecessary costs on companies and individuals accused of infringement, however questionable the patents and demands may be.

而 VENUE Act 則是拔掉這個武器,必須在與被告相關的主要地區提告。

舊金山要求新的建築物都必須有太陽能設備

舊金山通過在 2017 年之後的建築物必須有 15% 的屋頂面積必須是太陽能相關的設備:「San Francisco Is Requiring Solar Panels on All New Buildings」:

The ordinance, passed unanimously by the city’s Board of Supervisors, extends an existing California law which requires 15 percent of roof space on new buildings to be “solar ready” — available and unshaded. That ordinance applies to residential or commercial buildings 10 stories or shorter.

也就是說,可以是太陽能的發電,也可以是太陽能集熱的設備:

Under the new ordinance, which will go into effect in 2017, new buildings need to have solar energy of some kind installed, either electricity-generating panels or solar heating units.

希望在 2020 年達到 100% 再生能源的目標:

San Francisco took a major step toward its own goal of meeting the city’s electricity demands with 100 percent renewable energy by 2020.

這成為美國第一個主要城市通過這樣的規範:

This week, San Francisco became the first major U.S. city to require all new buildings to have solar panels on their roofs, according to Scott Wiener, the city supervisor who introduced the bill.

微軟曾經規劃以 80 億美金購買 Slack

TC 丟出來的消息,宣稱微軟曾經規劃以 80 億美金購買 Slack:「Source: Microsoft mulled an $8 billion bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead」。

不過這個計畫被微軟 CEO Satya Nadella 與前 CEO Bill Gates 給擋了下來,認為不如把這筆錢放到 Skype 的研發上:

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and CEO Satya Nadella were among those unconvinced by the idea, with Gates pushing instead to add more features into Skype to make it more competitive with Slack in the business market, our source says.

我也覺得微軟高層的角度比較合理 (以手上有的資料來規劃),雖然這幾年下來 Skype 愈改愈爛...

英國法院認為 GCHQ 偷黑別人機器是合法的

出自「Tribunal rules computer hacking by GCHQ is not illegal」這篇報導。在 Edward Snowden 爆料美國與英國政府都在幹黑的後,Privacy International 就提出訴訟控告 GCHQ,但前幾天法院認定這樣是合法的:

Campaigners Privacy International have lost a legal challenge claiming the spying post's hacking operations are too intrusive and break European law.

The case was launched after revelations by US whistleblower Edward Snowden about the extent of US and UK spying.

接下來的戰場會變成在 Investigatory Powers Bill 上面?還是會繼續有上訴?

Outlook 裡 Ctrl-F 的設計

OSNew 上看到為什麼 Outlook 裡 Ctrl-F 不是 find 的原因:「Why does Outlook map Ctrl+F to forward instead of find?」。

先引用這句話:

Before clicking the link to go to the full story, try to guess the answer. I'm pretty sure you're going to be wrong.

原文在「Why does Outlook map Ctrl+F to Forward instead of Find, like all right-thinking programs?」這邊,1995 年發生的事情。