By Uber loses a major employment rights case as the UK’s top court rules its drivers are workers rather than independent contractors.
In the UK on Friday, as the country’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling that its drivers are workers and not independent contractors.
Judges voted unanimously to dismiss Uber’s appeal against the ruling. The decision could have huge implications for Uber’s UK business, as well as the wider economy.
Uber insists its drivers are self-employed and that it acts as more of an “agency” which connects them with passengers through an app.
The ruling that the 35 Uber drivers who brought the case should be recognised as workers, and entitled to holiday pay, the minimum wage, sick leave and a pension.
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Among those who have faced similar challenges to Uber are food delivery company Deliveroo.
According to BBC News the court considered several elements in its judgement including Uber set the fare which meant that they dictated how much drivers could earn.
Uber set the contract terms and drivers had no say in them and request for rides is constrained by Uber who can penalise drivers if they reject too many rides.
Finally, Uber monitors a driver’s service through the star rating and has the capacity to terminate the relationship if after repeated warnings this does not improve.
The Supreme Court ruled that Uber has to consider its drivers “workers” from the time they log on to the app, until they log off.
This is a key point because Uber drivers typically spend time waiting for people to book rides on the app.
