UK Supreme Court says Uber drivers are workers, not contractors

LONDON – Uber lost a crucial legal fight in the UK on Friday, as the country’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling that its drivers should be classified as workers rather than independent contractors.

The Supreme Court voted unanimously to dismiss Uber’s appeal against the decision.

Verdict concludes nearly five-year legal battle between Uber and a group of former drivers who claim they were workers with entitlement to employment rights such as minimum wage, paid time off and breaks .

In 2016, a labor court ruled in favor of a group of former Uber drivers, led by Yaseen Aslam and James Farrar, who claimed to be workers employed by Uber and therefore entitled to certain labor protections. .

Uber insists that its drivers are self-employed and that it acts more like an “agency” that connects them with passengers through an app. Uber wants to keep the legal classification of its drivers as independent contractors unchanged, arguing that drivers prefer this “gig” model because it is more flexible – it also benefits Uber from a cost perspective.

The UK case echoes Uber’s legal fight with California regulators, which last year attempted to reclassify drivers from Uber and other ridesharing services like Lyft as employees to grant them more job protections.

But voters backed a voting measure called Proposition 22, which exempted Uber and other on-demand economy platforms from reclassifying drivers as employees.

The Supreme Court ruling potentially puts Uber’s business model in the UK at risk. The company will now have to go to the labor court to determine compensation for the drivers involved in the case. It could also face claims from thousands of other drivers around the country.

It also has major implications for Britain’s odd-job economy, which is said to number around 5.5 million people. Other companies operating a similar model to Uber include Bolt, Ola and Deliveroo.