Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • October 2016
10

Uber drivers entitled to basic workers rights in 'ground-breaking' decision

Open-access content Friday 28th October 2016 — updated 5.50pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

The union for professional drivers, GMB, have won their case against Uber after a London employment tribunal determined today that their drivers are entitled to basic workers rights.

2


This is an unprecedented case in the UK, which tests the argument that those who work through mobile apps such as Uber are self-employed rather than through a company.

People who work this way do so in what is known as the 'gig economy', which involves organisations contracting with independent workers for short-term engagements, often without the same regulations found in other sectors.

GMB legal director, Maria Ludkin said: "This is a monumental victory that will have a hugely positive impact on over 30,000 drivers in London and across England and Wales, and for thousands more in other industries where bogus self-employment is rife."

The union found last year that a member working exclusively for Uber received just £5.03 per hour in August after costs and fees were taken into account, significantly below the national minimum wage.

Lawyers for the drivers also argue that Uber are acting unlawfully by frequently deducting sums from drivers' pay, often without informing them in advance, such as when drivers make complaints.

"This is a ground-breaking decision," Leigh Day employment lawyer, Nigel Mackay said.

"It will impact not just on the thousands of Uber drivers working in this country, but on all workers in the so-called gig economy whose employers wrongly classify them as self-employed and deny them the rights to which they are entitled."

Although the full details of the judgment have not yet been published, it is believed that drivers will now be entitled to rights such as minimum wage, holiday pay, rest breaks, as well as the possibility of auto-enrolment into a workplace pension.

Hargreaves Lansdown head of retirement policy, Tom McPhail, said: "This is great news for anyone working in the gig economy as it means they are more likely to be eligible for a workplace pension, with all the attendant benefits and in particular the highly valuable employer contribution.

"It is also going to be a challenge for Uber and employers like them, in deciding what specific pension terms they want to offer their employees.

"They have some latitude on earnings definitions and deferral periods but however they deal with this, it is going to cost them time and money."

Uber have said they will be appealing the decision of this preliminary hearing.

This article appeared in our October 2016 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
Filed in
10

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Manager - Employee Benefits

£2958.18 - £3549.82 per month
Reference
145973

Manager - Employee Benefits

£2958.18 - £3549.82 per month
Reference
145972

Portfolio Management/Business Planning Actuary

London (Central)
£100000 - £125000 per annum
Reference
145971
See all jobs »
 
 

Today's top reads

 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ