Uber Says Its Drivers Are Independent Contractors With Self-employed "freedom."

Switzerland has joined the chorus of disapproval against Uber's insistence that it's huge glove of drivers aren't employees—with the country's insurance agency saying that it must pay staff benefits to a man who challenged his employment status with the tap and ride firm.

The man is restricted from setting his own prices and payment terms in the Uber car he drives and faces consequences he if breaks the company's rules, found the Swiss accident insurance agency SUVA.

It comes not long after a similar UK ruling went against Uber during a tribunal hearing last October. The judgment said that Uber's 40,000 drivers in Britain are entitled to earn the national minimum wage, holiday pay, sick pay, and other benefits, after it heard from two individuals who had taken action against the company.

At the time, California-based Uber said it would appeal against the decision and told its drivers that it was—in effect—business as usual. "There will be no change to your partnership with Uber in light of this decision," it told them in an e-mail following the ruling, "and we will continue to support the overwhelming majority of drivers who tell us that they use the Uber app to be their own boss and choose when and where to drive."

In response to the latest ruling, Uber once again disputed the idea that its drivers should be treated as employees.

"Taxi dispatchers have had exactly this issue for years and yet today there is not one driver employed by a big dispatcher in cities such as Zurich or Geneva. So this is nothing new in Switzerland and we will challenge it, just as others have," said Uber general manager Rasoul Jalali.

He added: "Drivers using the Uber app are independent contractors who enjoy all the flexibility and freedom that come with being self-employed."

Uber has repeatedly faced questions around the globe about the "contractor" status that it pins on its army of drivers.