Addison Lee Drivers Are Workers Too

You may recall that in February of this year, the Supreme Court issued judgement on an important case to determine whether Uber drivers were workers in the eyes of the law or self-employed contractors as the contract between Uber and each driver stated.

In a much reported matter, the Supreme Court rules that the Uber drivers were workers from the point that they logged into the Uber app until the point they they logged out again, irrespective of whether they were carrying a fare.

Within the last few days, the Court of Appeal has ruled - entirely consistently with the above Supreme Court judgement - in Addison Lee v Lange that its drivers are also workers and not self-employed contractors whilst logged in to the Addison Lee app, again irrespective of whether they were carrying a fare or not.

The Court of Appeal in issuing its decision has refused Addison Lee any further right of appeal.

This is a second stark reminder to employers who engage the services of self-employed contractors and contractors generally that it’s imperative that the reality of the relationship outweigh the contractual relationship when deciding on employment status.