UK workers are entitled to the National Minimum Wage and holiday pay, but Uber has never given its drivers these payments. Instead, Uber argued that its drivers were not employees, but self-employed contractors who used its technology. This resulted in a long legal battle between Uber and some of its drivers.
Last month, the Supreme Court sided with the claimants and ruled that Uber drivers are workers, not self-employed contractors. In this ground-breaking case, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of a previous Employment Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal.
Following this judgement, Uber has now agreed to pay its drivers a guaranteed minimum wage, holiday pay and pensions going forward. However, while this is good news for the 70,000 Uber drivers in the UK, Uber has not agreed to pay its workers any shortfall that they might be owed.
Uber still hasn’t agreed to pay its drivers the backpay they are owed
Despite Uber agreeing to pay its drivers the correct wage from now on, this does not rectify its failure to do so previously. Many current and former Uber drivers could still be left short and due thousands of pounds in unpaid wages and holiday pay.
Uber drivers who want to recover this historic unpaid holiday pay and/or National Minimum Wage must make a claim to recover these sums. Keller Lenkner UK is helping Uber drivers to do this.
What has Uber agreed to?
In a win for workers’ rights, from today, Uber will:
- Pay at least the National Living Wage for over-25s, irrespective of a driver’s age, after accepting a trip request and after expenses.
- Pay all drivers holiday time based on 12.07% of their earnings, paid out on a fortnightly basis.
- Automatically enrol drivers into a pension plan with contributions from Uber alongside driver contributions, setting drivers up over the long term.
Uber will also
- Continue to provide free insurance in case of sickness or injury as well as parental payments.
- Ensure drivers retain the freedom to choose if, when and where they drive.
Commenting on the change in workers’ conditions, Uber chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi said:
“This is a significant improvement in the standard of work for UK drivers. But I know many observers won’t pat us on the back for taking this step, which comes after a five-year legal battle.
“They have a point, though I hope the path that we chose shows our willingness to change.”
What should Uber drivers do now?
Uber drivers do not need to take any action to receive the correct wage going forward. But if you have been an Uber driver at any point since 1 July 2015, you could be owed backpay.
Keller Lenkner UK is bringing a ‘no-win no-fee’ group action case to hold Uber to account for underpaying its workers, and to get back what they are owed.
We are also collaborating with ADCU, the App Drivers & Couriers Union which represents and supports App Based drivers in the UK. This is the leading trade union for gig economy workers and, amongst other things, leads the fight for a better future for all Uber drivers. It brings together Uber drivers from across the UK to strengthen and protect their rights as drivers.
We can reassure you it is against the law for Uber to fire a driver for joining our claim against them.
Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting new clients and you are not able to sign-up to the claim with us. If you have any questions, we would be happy to discuss.
