Upholding the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal made in November 2017, the Court of Appeal have ruled that Uber drivers are to be classed as workers.
The majority agreed with the EAT and found that the contract between the drivers and Uber, in which the drivers are described as independent contractors, did not accurately reflect the reality of the working relationship. They also agreed that the drivers were ‘working’ when they had the app switched on and were ready and waiting to pick up passengers, not just while they were completing a journey.
A number of other factors were held to be significant in determining whether the drivers were workers. The fact that drivers are required to accept/not cancel trips and are logged off the app if they do so, in addition to Uber setting the fare and imposing conditions on the drivers such as the types of vehicle and route to take, all pointed to a level of control consistent with a worker.
Given, however, that Uber have permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, it is unlikely that we have heard the last on this matter.