For four years the job status of Uber drivers in the UK was like a colorful beach ball: insignificant, beaten from court to court, and it looks different depending on where you stand. On Friday, the highest court in the country ruled: A group of 25 Uber executives who filed a lawsuit against the company were never to be treated as independent contractors, the judges said. Instead, workers are entitled to national minimum wage, paid leave, rest breaks and discrimination protection.
For now, the decision only applies to the 25 drivers. But it is the latest sign from governments around the world that are putting pressure on Uber’s business model and that of its gig economy brothers and sisters – including DoorDash, Lyft, Amazon, Instacart and in the UK, the food delivery company Deliveroo. Lawmakers, lawyers, unions and organizers want the businesses to treat their workers better, even if the businesses remain unprofitable.
“Over the past twelve months, the courts have had a swing swing to protect workers ‘rights in the gig economy,” said Ruwan Subasinghe, the legal director of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, which represents nearly 20 million workers in 150 countries. Last March, the French Supreme Court ruled that an Uber driver does not qualify as a self-employed contractor, opening the driving hail and delivery business for tax liability. A similar ruling followed last fall in Italy. The Belgian labor authority filed a court case last month disputing the worker status of food deliveries. Just this week, judges in the Netherlands ruled that cycling couriers do not qualify for Deliveroo as freelancers, and that Deliveroo must pay an hourly wage rather than per delivery.
Outside courtrooms, as soon as this month, the Spanish government will introduce strict new rules that will change the employment of food delivery workers in the country. And the European Union will start this month to discuss legislation that will apply to platform-based work, with the aim of issuing new labor rules by the end of the year. The EU could, for example, relax antitrust laws to enable gig workers to negotiate collectively, a kind of coordination that can be seen today as an illegal cartel.
Uber has been arguing for years that it’s simply a technology platform that connects business owners – people who own cars and want to make money – with customers who want rides and snacks. But Friday’s unanimous decision by the British Supreme Court ruled that, unlike other independent contractors, Uber executives did not have control over important parts of their work. The court said drivers do not set their own contract terms because they are penalized for rejecting too many ride requests, and that they are evaluated as employees – using rider ratings. The court ruled that Uber drivers theoretically choose what type of car they want to use, but Uber first suggests the make and model.
In response to the decision, Jamie Heywood, Uber’s regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, emphasized that the ruling only applies “to a small number of drivers who used the Uber app in 2016”, and that the company has made changes to driver app since then. “We are committed to doing more and will now consult with every active manager in the UK to understand the changes they want to see,” he said. Uber did not immediately announce any changes to its service, but said earlier it would increase prices if forced to consider more of its drivers as employees.
Similar arguments play out in the US. A California law of 2019 restricted employers’ use of independent contractors. Shortly thereafter, a federal appeals court ruled that Uber’s executives should be treated as employees, entitled to minimum wage, workers’ compensation and other benefits. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and others eventually evaded lawmakers as well as the courts by spending more than $ 200 million on a ballot paper that allows them to treat workers as contractors, with additional benefits. Californians approved Proposition 22 in November.