Uber Eyes a Return to Anchorage

Friday, September 23, 2016 | 0

Uber, the ride-hailing service that stopped operating in Alaska after the state Department of Labor said it had misclassified its drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, is reportedly trying to return to Anchorage, KTUU-TV reported.

An Uber spokeswoman told the television station that the company had been meeting with people and gathering information with an eye toward returning to Anchorage in the next couple of years.

Uber operated in Anchorage from September 2014 through March 2015. But after questions arose about its employee classification, Uber paid $77,925 to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. In an August 2015 settlement, Uber agreed not to operate in Alaska unless state law is changed to explicitly exempt its drivers from workers’ compensation and other labor requirements.

A pair of bills that would have added drivers for ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft to the list of employees who are statutorily exempt from workers' compensation coverage died in the 2015 session.

The Uber spokeswoman told KTUU that the company had been successful in getting similar legislation passed in other states.