Uber drivers are workers, Supreme Court rules

Uber's drivers are workers and not self-employed, the UK Supreme Court ruled, opening the way for thousands of the ride-hailing company's drivers to receive the minimum wage and holiday pay.

The court's unanimous decision settled a case that ran for six years and three appeals by Uber. The judgment could leave Uber with a big compensation bill and reverberate throughout the gig economy.

Former Uber drivers James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam won an employment tribunal against Uber in October 2016 but were forced to battle the US company up to the highest court in the land.

The ruling criticised Uber's attempt to bypass UK employment law and withhold benefits from its drivers. The judges said: “Laws such as the National Minimum Wage Act were manifestly enacted to protect those whom Parliament considers to be in need of protection and not just those who are designated by their employer as qualifying for it.”

The court said working time used to calculate the minimum wage and holiday pay should be from logon to logoff including standby time. Uber had argued working time should only include journey time with a paying passenger.

Farrar, who is general secretary of the App Drivers & Couriers Union, said: "This ruling will fundamentally re-order the gig economy and bring an end to rife exploitation of workers by means of algorithmic and contract trickery. Uber drivers are cruelly sold a false dream of endless flexibility and entrepreneurial freedom. The reality has been illegally low pay, dangerously long hours and intense digital surveillance."

He called on the government to strengthen the law to give gig workers sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal. Gig economy jobs such as delivery drivers have helped support the UK's employment figures but critics have said they erode workers' rights in a race to the bottom.