A month after the UK Supreme Court ruled that taxi-aggregator app Uber must classify its drivers as workers and offer them minimum wage, the company has complied. Uber announced that starting Wednesday, it would treat its drivers in the UK as workers—paying them at least the minimum wage, offering UK holiday time and enrolling eligible drivers into a pension plan with contributions from the company.
UK law recognises three designations of employment status: Self-employed, employed and worker. While workers are not considered employees, they are still entitled to certain rights.
As per the holiday time (based on 12.07 per cent) of their earnings, paid out every two weeks. They will be offered at least the UK National Living Wage after accepting a trip request and after expenses, and will be enrolled in a pension plan where the company would contribute about 3 per cent of driver earnings.
Labour unions welcomed the move.
Mick Rix, national officer of the GMB union, told the PA news agency: “Uber’s announcement should mark the end of the road for bogus self-employment.”
“GMB’s battle with Uber now opens the door for workers, and their unions, to win the fight for better pay and conditions at companies across the gig economy,” he added.
Around 70,000 drivers work for Uber in the UK.
While the UK Supreme Court ruling will not directly affect Uber’s operations in India, it does set a precedent for proponents of greater workers rights in the gig economy. In 2017, the Delhi Commercial Drivers Union had filed suit against Uber asking whether its drivers were considered employees or not. The Delhi High Court went on to seek a response from Uber and Ola as to whether their drivers would fall under the category of employees or workmen so as to be eligible for benefits under labour laws, LiveLaw reported.
