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Uber uber

Posted by Sarah Loates on October 28, 2016 at 11:57pm in Employment Law
Hi all I'm sharing the Daniel Barnett update on this case which ruled earlier today. Interesting times indeed!!!!An Employment Tribunal has, this afternoon, ruled that two drivers who provide services to gig economy stalwart Uber are 'workers' within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act 1996.This means they will be entitled to a limited number of employment rights (but not those accruing to 'employees' - which this case was not about). Amongst other rights, they will be entitled to:-5.6 weeks' paid annual leave each yeara maximum 48 hour average working week, and rest breaksthe national minimum wage (and the national living wage)protection of the whistleblowing legislation.As they are not employees, they will not be entitled to:-the ability to claim unfair dismissalthe right to a statutory redundancy paymentthe benefit of the implied term of trust and confidencethe protection of TUPE, if Uber sells its businessOf course, it is virtually certain that this tribunal decision will be appealed up and up, potentially to the Supreme Court. So, for now:-1. any Uber drivers should bring tribunal claims on the assumption they are 'workers', and ask for the hearings to be stayed (put on hold) pending any appeals of today's decision2. although this decision is fact-specific, and based on Uber's business model, it increases the chance of other 'gig economy' companies facing claims that their 'contractors' have worker status. Watch this space.

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  • Emma November 6, 2016 at 12:30pm

    Thanks for sharing Sarah, this has been a really interesting case and the implications for similar organisations will be huge. Lets see what the appeal brings.

  • Emily Edge November 4, 2016 at 3:00pm

    It will be very interesting to see how this plays out and it will reach across many industries. I think the ruling of the drivers having some employment rights, but not being a fully fledged employee has the potential to muddy the waters further - especially for SMEs on the gig economy or similar. I think it will discourage some companies/industries who have maybe thought about going down the 'gig-economy' until now. 

    The other thing I wonder is where will the balance be struck - one of the reasons Uber has grown so quickly is the flexibility to work when the drivers choose - Can this flexibility continue if the Uber model has to change to fit in with the final ruling of this case? 

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