LONDON (Reuters) – The British Supreme Court will rule on Friday in a battle over workers’ rights at Uber’s taxi app that could affect millions of people in a gig economy.
In a two-driver case, an employment tribunal in London ruled in 2016 that they were entitled to the minimum wage, paid holidays and rest periods.
The Silicon Valley-based company appealed the decision all the way to Britain’s main court which will issue its judgment from 0945 GMT on Friday.
Uber drivers are currently treated as self-employed, meaning they have little protection in law.
If the company loses, it could still take several months to work out the details after another employment tribunal hearing, depending on what kind of decision the Supreme Court has.
“It would involve working out how many hours they worked, how much they paid for those hours and identifying times when that meant they were paid. Less than the minimum wage, ”Matt McDonald, a partner specifically involved in employment disputes at law firm Shakespeare Martineau, told Reuters.
“As an administrative task for the courts, it’s terrible,” he said.
A total of 25 drivers are part of an extended group involved. Uber has around 60,000 drivers in Britain, including 45,000 in London, one of its most important markets.
Winning, however, would be a huge boost for him and several transportation, delivery and courier companies using a similar business model, including foodservice company Deliveroo and taxi competitor Addison Lee.
The gig economy, where people tend to work for one or more companies on a work-out basis, has defied criticism from unions who claim it is spying while businesses cite flexibility as an advantage.
Uber saw a challenge in its California home market in November when voters backed a ballot proposal that strengthened app-based food delivery and the status of riding drivers as independent contractors, not employees.
Reporting with Cost of Pitas; Edited by Kirsten Donovan