WARD HILL WALKER - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Partner With Constantine Law, Sai
Alan Lewis, partner with Constantine Law, said the ruling could go as far as impacting more than five million workers in the UK. The judgement "has emphasised the need to rely less on the written contractual terms and more on what happens in reality," he said, adding that businesses will need to ask questions including: Who controls what goes on? Who takes the financial risk? Who supplies the equipment? And can the individual appoint a substitute to carry out the work?
Job Titles:
- General Secretary of the App Drivers & Couriers Union
Farrar, who is general secretary of the App Drivers & Couriers Union as well as one of the co-lead claimants in the case, also called for legislative change.
Job Titles:
- Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys
Michael Powner, partner at Charles Russell Speechlys, added the ruling "clearly sent a warning" to other businesses using these types of app-based platforms that the current employment legislation exists "to give protection to vulnerable individuals who have little or no say over their pay and working conditions.
"[The ruling] has wide-ranging implications for all those working in the gig economy, such as couriers and delivery drivers, and will make it much harder for companies engaging people via digital platforms to assert that they are self-employed whatever their contractual documentation says," he said.
As well as confirming Uber drivers are entitled to employment rights, including rest breaks and holiday pay, Powner added that the judgement confirmed drivers were working from the time they turn the app on and they are ready to accept bookings.
Paul Jennings, partner at Bates Wells and one of the lawyers acting for the claimants, described the ruling as a "clear and powerful restatement of the importance of basic employment protections", and said the judgement would shape future cases on the gig-economy.
"The ruling strikes at the heart of Uber's business model. We anticipate there will be a significant class action against Uber," he said. "As a business, it will need to reflect very carefully on the implications of the judgement."