Uber under employment law rules- drivers are workers and not self-employed
Uber under employment law rules- drivers are workers and not self-employed
Mon 20 Nov 2017
Uber’s appeal against the October 2016 Employment Tribunal (ET) decision that its drivers were ‘workers’ rather than self-employed, has failed at the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).
The EAT considered the ET had been entitled to reject the contractual documentation characterising the drivers as self-employed and conclude take into account the overall factual matrix. The ET’s findings were not perverse or inconsistent and the ET was entitled to find that the drivers were workers, entitled to workers’ rights and the national minimum wage.
Workers are entitled to certain employment rights, including:
• getting the National Minimum Wage
• protection against unlawful deductions from wages
• the statutory minimum level of paid holiday
• the statutory minimum length of rest breaks
• to not work more than 48 hours on average per week or to opt out of this right if they choose
• protection against unlawful discrimination
• protection for ‘whistleblowing’ – reporting wrongdoing in the workplace
• to not be treated less favourably if they work part-time
They may also be entitled to:
• Statutory Sick Pay
• Statutory Maternity Pay
• Statutory Paternity Pay
• Statutory Adoption Pay
• Shared Parental Pay
The decision recognised the case was fact and context specific, and so any other cases would need to be considered on their own merits. Nevertheless if the decision holds, the case may be expensive for Uber. It is reported to have around 40,000 drivers in London alone, 80% of whom it claims are self-employed. Uber has said it will appeal the decision, which will mean the next stage is a Court of Appeal hearing if the appeal is allowed.
Discussions on Uber’s London licence to operate a private hire vehicle business (which was withdrawn in September) appear to be on-going. Their existing licence remains in place while these discussions continue. It has also been reported that Uber also faces an appeal in the High Court concerning the VAT status of its business in the UK.
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