Hermes Couriers are Workers and Not Independent Contractors
Alan Kitto
In the latest in a line of similar cases, a group of Hermes couriers have won a significant legal battle which entitles them to be treated as workers instead of independent contractors.
An employment tribunal has ruled that the group were entitled to receive the minimum wage and holiday pay, and to reclaim unlawful deductions from their wages, because they had incorrectly been classified as self-employed.
Around 14,500 Hermes couriers, who are engaged under the same contract as the 65 couriers who took the case to the tribunal, are likely to be affected by the ruling.
Earlier this month, a plumber who worked for six years as a contractor for a plumbing firm won a similar style legal battle for working rights. The actions of his employer, Pimlico Plumbers, led the tribunal at Britain’s highest court to rule that the individual should have been treated as a worker rather than a contractor, as in the Hermes case.
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