Uber Drivers Aren’t Self Employed, U.K. Tribunal Rules<br />The decision, which affirmed a ruling made last year, means<br />that Uber will have to ensure its drivers in Britain are paid a minimum wage and entitled to time off, casting doubt on a common hiring model in the so-called gig economy that relies on workers who do not have a formal contract as permanent employees.<br />In a statement made after the ruling, Uber’s acting head in Britain, Tom Elvidge, said the<br />company would appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal or to Britain’s Supreme Court.<br />The company faces a similar challenge in Europe — the region’s highest court is expected to rule by the end of the year in a case over whether the company should be regulated as a taxi service, which would make it subject to rigorous safety and employment rules, or as a digital platform<br />that simply connects independent drivers to passengers.<br />10, 2017<br />LONDON — Uber suffered another blow on Friday to its operations in its biggest market outside the United States<br />when an employment tribunal in London rejected the company’s argument that its drivers were self employed.<br />In the case before the employment tribunal on Friday, two Uber drivers, James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam, had challenged the company on behalf of a group of 19 drivers, saying<br />that the service had denied them basic protections by classifying them as self-employed.<br />Some 40,000 people drive for Uber in the British capital,<br />and it claims three million customers have used the app in London at least once in the past three months.
