On the go: Judges have dismissed an appeal against a ruling that Uber’s drivers should be treated as workers rather than as self-employed.
The Court of Appeal in a majority verdict upheld the landmark ruling of the Central London Employment Tribunal in 2016 that James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam were entitled to holiday pay, paid rest breaks and the minimum wage.
This follows an Employment Appeal Tribunal decision last year which also ruled against the ride-sharing company.
Commenting on the case, Tim Roache, general secretary of the GMB union, said: “We’re now at a hat trick of judgements against Uber; they keep appealing and keep losing. Uber should just accept the verdict and stop trying to find loopholes that deprive people of their hard won rights and hard earned pay.
“This is the perfect early Christmas present for GMB's Uber members, but this case is about the wider ‘gig economy’ too.
"Employers are on notice that they can’t just run roughshod over working people to put more on the bottom line for shareholders.”
Commenting on the judgment, an Uber spokesperson, said: “Almost all taxi and private hire drivers have been self-employed for decades, long before our app existed.
“Drivers who use the Uber app make more than the London Living Wage and want to keep the freedom to choose if, when and where they drive. If drivers were classified as workers they would inevitably lose some of the freedom and flexibility that comes with being their own boss.”
They added: “Over the last two years we’ve made many changes to give drivers even more control over how they use the app, alongside more security through sickness, maternity and paternity protections.”
The decision could have important implications for Uber drivers’ pension benefits. Liz Wood, a principal associate at law firm Gowling WLG, explained: “It is a legal requirement for all employers with UK workers who meet certain criteria to automatically enrol those workers into a qualifying workplace pension arrangement.
“If Uber haven’t been treating their drivers as workers then presumably this hasn’t been done and would need to be factored into the overall wage bill going forwards. It also remains to be seen how it would be dealt with retrospectively.’
Uber has been granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court and will appeal.
