LONDON PH GIG-ECONOMY BEHEMOTH FALLS... OR DOES IT?
Addison Lee’s appeal against drivers being classed as workers gets stopped dead in its tracks. The judge cites Uber’s failure at The Supreme Court as evidence of the pointlessness of taking the appeal any further.
Last month, Uber’s final chance at appeal was refused at The Supreme Court - the highest court in the land. In my report on Uber, I outlined that even though this is a big deal in terms of legislation, it remains to be seen whether HMRC or employ- ment tribunals will come to collect what they are owed.
Uber drivers are owed £10,000s. However, Uber isn’t going to make getting the money easy. Drivers will need to file a claim in order to get what they are owed. Uber is like a bank with a ‘free money’ sign with an AI dragon guarding the front.
Some thought this case meant the fall of the gig economy, others considered it the symbolic fall of a company likely to use its immense technological and financial resources to shapeshift back into its exploitative ways.
But things are changing, slowly, and we should be optimistic, cautiously.
IS THE GIG ECONOMY CHANGING?
Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi published an article in the Evening Standard. He announced that drivers will now receive holiday pay, pension contributions and the National Living Wage. The announcement missed a few major points of The Supreme Court judgement, sending a message out that Uber still does what it wants, but it was a start.
Now, something infinitely more interesting has happened.
Another company that engages workers in the gig economy, Addison Lee, has been tarred with the same brush by the courts. Addison Lee, a huge London minicab firm with a corporate face, that many wouldn’t associate with the tech companies of Uber, Bolt for example, engages its drivers in a rather similar way to its silicon valley counterparts.
This is more worrying because Addison Lee is a ‘traditional’ private hire-style company, but the case still centred around the use of an app. Lord Justice Bean doesn’t think there is much difference in the way in which Addison Lee and, in particular, Uber drivers are treated.
In 2017, three Addison Lee drivers, Mr Lange, Mr Olszewski and Mr Morahan took Addison Lee to an employment tribunal. They believed that they were workers and should be paid the entirety of the time they were logged onto Addison Lee’s driver platform.
40 They were successful.
Major precendents are being set - gig workers should be paid from the moment they log into the app
Should other gig economy companies make changes before it’s too late?
Readers of my last article or those knowledgeable about the case will know that part of Lord Leggatt’s final judgement in the Uber case was that Uber drivers should be paid from the second that they log into the app and are available to take jobs.
Addison Lee appealed the decision, but the judgement was upheld by The Employment Appeal Tribunal. Addison Lee was then given permission to appeal the ruling. Addison Lee would have presumably, if unsuccessful again, followed Uber’s path to The Court Of Appeal and finally to The Supreme Court.
Lord Justice Bean has said due to Uber’s failure, there is no longer a reasonable prospect of success in overturning the decision. Because of this, Addison Lee has had their applica- tion for appeal dismissed. Law firm Leigh Day, which represents more than 100 Addison Lee drivers, believes thousands of drivers could be entitled to approximately £10,000 in compensation.
Just like with the Uber case, it should be mentioned that compensation can only be given if drivers take action to bring a claim.
It is likely that Addison Lee will offer a solution to drivers much like the landmark ‘employment plus’ offered by Hermes in conjunction with the GMB, and Uber’s compro- mise that I’ve mentioned above. The sentiment from the Uber drivers responsible for the original claim was happiness and victory, but time will tell how many drivers from both Uber and Addison Lee will come and collect.
In order to follow suit, drivers for Addison Lee will have to pursue their own claims and are being heavily courted by solicitors happy to oblige. This potential chaos was brought to you by governments that have not addressed the massive digitisation of the hire and reward trade and won’t make clear laws which recognise new ways of working.
Gary Jacobs
Director of Eaziserv, a compliance and status consultancy specialising in ground transport.
www.eaziserv.co.uk
JUNE 2021
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