UK Supreme Court Rule in Favour of Uber Drivers – Lord Leggatt of the UK Supreme Court upheld a judgment that says uber drivers in the UK are entitled to legal rights and protections afforded to workers. It is the latest series of cases where judges have found that despite uber’s opposition, its drivers are not self-employed entrepreneurs. In his judgment, lord Leggatt said that “workers were logging in to the Uber app had entered into a contract with the company to perform driving services for Uber London, rather than the riders themselves”.
The judge said that since the company sets the fare, imposes the contract terms, and exerts significant control over the services, it was acting as an employer. While drivers could choose the time they worked, but the rest of the process was within the company’s control.
The company contends that its drivers are only working when they are driving a passenger, which the court disagrees with, “the way Uber communicates to its drivers suggests that, as soon as the app is activated, they need to be ready to accept a ride”. This also means that the drivers are not eligible to accept rides from alternative taxi hire or sharing ride companies.