Uber loses UK lawsuit over drivers’ employment rights in gig economy

Bloomberg

Uber Technologies Inc lost a UK lawsuit over the employment rights of its drivers, in a landmark judgment that threatens to force companies in the country’s burgeoning gig economy to offer benefits such as paid vacations.
London’s Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge by the ride-hailing firm over a lower court ruling that found its drivers are “workers,” meaning they’re entitled to the minimum wage and holiday pay. It’s the third time Uber has been defeated in the British lawsuit. The company will now take the case to the Supr-eme Court, a spokeswoman said.
The company’s drivers “are under a positive obligation to be available for work while the app is on,” and that’s enough to class them as workers, according to a statement released by the court. Judges Terence Etherton and David Bean agreed that the drivers were workers, while Nicholas Underhill dissented.
“The ruling will have significant implications for approximately 45,000 Uber drivers and, more broadly, individuals engaged across the so-called gig economy,” Paul Jennings, the lawyer representing the drivers who brought the suit against Uber, said in a statement. “We anticipate that thousands of drivers will now seek to make substantial back-dated claims.”
The court’s decision doesn’t reflect most drivers’ reasons for using the ride-hailing app, Uber’s spokeswoman said. “If drivers were classified as workers they would inevitably lose some of the freedom and flexibility that comes with being their own boss.”
Uber had drawn up “convoluted, complex and artificial contractual arrangements” that were “no doubt formulated by a battery of lawyers,” Etherton and Bean said in the 70-page ruling. Drivers and passengers aren’t in a position to resist
the language of the contracts, they said.
Underhill, who said he wo-uld’ve allowed Uber’s appeal, said in the judgment that “the relationship argued for by Uber is neither unrealistic nor artificial.”