| We have seen a number of cases in recent years looking at the employment status of people working in the so-called “gig economy”. Uber, Pimlico Plumbers and Deliveroo are just some of the organisations whose contractual arrangements with those delivering their service have come under scrutiny.
The most recent case to come before the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) is that of Addison Lee v Lange & Ors. This case, like the Uber one, deals with the status of private hire drivers. There were robust and detailed contracts in place with the drivers, making it very clear that they were self-employed. Addison Lee was not obliged to offer any number of jobs (or any jobs) to the drivers and the drivers were not obliged to make themselves available to carry out jobs. However, as the drivers rented their vehicles through an associated company of Addison Lee, they needed to work between 25 and 30 hours each week just to pay those costs, and most worked 55-60 hours per week in order to earn a living.
The EAT considered it entirely reasonable to take a “realistic and worldly” wise approach, as in a number of earlier cases, as the contract did not adequately address the reality of how the arrangements worked. For instance, the drivers were obliged to accept jobs whenever they were logged on to the automated booking system, and there were penalties associated with the handling of jobs.
The EAT decided that the drivers were actually workers, and were therefore entitled to paid holidays and to receive the National Minimum Wage for all the time that they were logged on to the booking system.
Tribunals are obviously prepared to put aside clever contractual wording in situations where individuals might otherwise miss out. Self-employed people are generally those who are in business on their own account and are able to control their own destiny with respect to finding customers, setting prices, managing risks, etc. So clearly these type of “gig economy” workers don’t fit that model very neatly.
If you have anybody working for you under an atypical arrangement and are concerned, then please contact us for advice. |
