Uber Drivers are ‘workers’

Uber drivers are ‘workers’ and therefore entitled to employment rights including the minimum wage and sick pay, the Supreme Court has ruled, in a judgement that could upend the way the app-based economy works in the UK.

The court unanimously agreed that drivers were working “for and under” Uber, regardless of how the arrangement was written into the contractual agreement, and therefore the relevant employment legislation applied – bringing to end a five year legal battle over the issue.

“It is wrong in principle to treat the written agreements as a starting point in deciding whether an individual is a ‘worker’,” the court said, finding that in reality the service provided by drivers was “very tightly defined and controlled by Uber” and that drivers were “in a position of subordination and dependency in relation to Uber”.