Uber’s business model has been declared unlawful by the High Court, following the ride hire company’s legal action over a Supreme Court ruling in February that declared its drivers were employees and therefore entitled to benefits such as sick pay and minimum wage.
London’s Evening Standard reports that drivers and couriers are now more likely to have easier access to employment rights since they are no longer entering into a contract with passengers, but working for operators who instead contract with passengers.
During the Supreme Court case, Lord Leggatt had suggested that Uber’s claim to be simply acting as an “agent” for drivers could be in violation of transport and employment law administered by TfL, though no ruling was made on the matter.
Now, the report says, the latest High Court ruling has firmly established that Uber’s gig economy business model is unlawful, and that it is “required by the 1998 Act to enter (as principal) into a contractual obligation with the passenger to provide the journey in respect of that booking”.
(Picture – Uber)
