Uber Drivers are Workers, say the Supreme Court

In what has been a long and arduous journey for both parties, we’ve finally reached the end of the legal road in the matter of Uber vs. Aslam as the Supreme Court hands down its judgement that Uber drivers are in fact workers and not self-employed from the point that they switch on their app to the point they switch it off.

This means that Uber drivers are entitled to claim the prevailing National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (including backpay for minimum wage), with their minimum wage claims being based upon their entire working day, not just when they had a rider in their cabs.

Up to two years’ backpay (there is some doubt about this, it could be longer), or £25,000 (whichever is the larger) can be claimed in an employment tribunal, and up to six years’ backpay can be claimed in the county court.

They can also claim 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave each year, and will have whistleblowing and similar rights. This judgment does not give them ‘employee’ rights, such as the right to a redundancy payment or to claim unfair dismissal.

The Supreme Court’s direction in terms of future similar claims is that a tribunal should examine the reality of the relationship between the parties, and not be bound by what the documentation states.

This is a potentially game changing decision for any company that relies on self-employed contractors and its likely that other cases will follow.