10 November 2017

In our recent blog we looked at employment status and the legal issues arising. This is a key issue for our law and society. Who is entitled to paid holidays? Who gets the benefit of rest breaks? To whom should the minimum wage be paid? What about unfair dismissal and the right not to be unlawfully discriminated against?

Only those who satisfy the statutory criteria for the rights in question are given the rights. This issue has vexed our law for some time given the uncertainty. “Employees” (as defined) are those who are given the most rights but those who are “workers” (as defined) have considerable rights, including paid holidays.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has today confirmed that the Employment Tribunal was right to look at the factual matrix underpinning the Uber approach to engaging drivers and find that the individuals were in fact “workers” (despite the paper work suggesting the contrary). An Employment Tribunal is entitled (and indeed required) to assess what the actual position is, rather than simply assuming the position set out in writing reflects the reality.

This is not an easy issue to determine and the complexity of the factual findings demonstrate the thorny issues that can arise in practice. Nevertheless employers should take care to consider employment status when engaging individuals to carry out services. Employers are well advised to audit their current approach to procuring services to identify where risk may lie.

As ever, specialist employment law advice is essential to understand where the risks are and how these issues can be properly managed. Your BTO employment specialists can help.

The full Judgement can be read here: Uber Employment Appeal Tribunal Judgement

Also further reading can be found here: Employment status and the legal issues arising.

To discuss further please contact one of our BTO employment lawyers on 0141 221 8012.