The UK’s Court of Appeal has ruled that taxi and courier company Addison Lee can not fight a 2017 Employment Tribunal ruling that its drivers must be classed as workers of the company, rather than self-employed contractors.
The 2017 ruling stated that Addison Lee had a contract with drivers which meant that, while drivers had freedom to select which jobs to accept, the reality of the relationship was that they were working from when they logged into the app.
This decision was then upheld by the Employment Appeal Tribunal, but Addison Lee was granted permission to fight the verdict with the Court of Appeal. However, following the Supreme Court ruling in February that ride-hailing firm Uber must class its driver and employees, the Court of Appeal reconsidered its decision to hear Addison Lee’s appeal.
Lord Justice Bean said: “Now that the Supreme Court in Uber has emphatically reaffirmed the Autoclenz principle, there is no longer a reasonable prospect of success in overturning that finding in the present case and there is no compelling reason why this appeal should proceed further.”
The decision means that Addison Lee drivers are now entitled to workers’ rights such as holiday pay, sick pay and the minimum wage. Furthermore, drivers may also be entitled to claim back-pay for their previous time with the company.
Commenting on the ruling, IPSE CEO Derek Cribb said: “The Addison Lee judgement is yet another sign after the Uber case that the government must urgently step in on the confusion in the gig economy. The gig economy is a tangled mix not only of people who should truly be categorised as workers, but also a very large number of legitimately self-employed people who rely on the flexibility that freelancing offers.”
