After a long-running legal battle, the Supreme Court has now reached a decision on the status of Uber drivers in the case of Uber v Aslam.
The Court held that
Uber drivers must now be classified as ‘workers’, rather than self-employed individuals,
from the time they log on to the app, until they the time they log off, which
includes time spent waiting to pick up passengers.
The judgment
follows Uber’s appeal to the Supreme Court, after losing three earlier rounds
in the Employment Tribunal and the High Court.
The decision means
that tens of thousands of Uber drivers are now entitled to certain employment
rights such as minimum wage for their entire working day (including 2 years’
back pay, possibly more), 5.6 weeks paid annual leave as well as whistleblowing
and related rights. The judgment does not, however, give them ‘employee’
status, and so they do not, for example, have any entitlement to a redundancy
payment or to claim unfair dismissal.
The ruling may have
a wider effect in threatening Uber’s current business model, and it remains to
be seen how this decision will affect gig economy individuals working for
competing apps, and the impact in terms of potential claims.
This update has been provided by our Alpha Team. Alpha is our HR and Employment Support Service. To find out how we can help your business call us on 0845 450 1561.