Uber Drivers Aren’t Self Employed, U.K. Tribunal Rules
The decision, which affirmed a ruling made last year, means
that Uber will have to ensure its drivers in Britain are paid a minimum wage and entitled to time off, casting doubt on a common hiring model in the so-called gig economy that relies on workers who do not have a formal contract as permanent employees.
In a statement made after the ruling, Uber’s acting head in Britain, Tom Elvidge, said the
company would appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal or to Britain’s Supreme Court.
The company faces a similar challenge in Europe — the region’s highest court is expected to rule by the end of the year in a case over whether the company should be regulated as a taxi service, which would make it subject to rigorous safety and employment rules, or as a digital platform
that simply connects independent drivers to passengers.
10, 2017
LONDON — Uber suffered another blow on Friday to its operations in its biggest market outside the United States
when an employment tribunal in London rejected the company’s argument that its drivers were self employed.
In the case before the employment tribunal on Friday, two Uber drivers, James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam, had challenged the company on behalf of a group of 19 drivers, saying
that the service had denied them basic protections by classifying them as self-employed.
Some 40,000 people drive for Uber in the British capital,
and it claims three million customers have used the app in London at least once in the past three months.
