Uber will reclassify its UK drivers as workers, falling partly in line with a recent Supreme Court ruling, but probably setting up a fresh round of disputes over what should be considered “working time” in the gig economy. The decision means Uber’s roughly 70,000 UK drivers will for the first time be entitled to holiday pay equivalent to 12.07 per cent of their earnings, and to automatic enrolment in a workplace pension scheme. However, the change may make little difference to drivers’ headline earnings. Uber will ensure drivers earn at least the statutory minimum wage, after expenses, for the time they are assigned to trips — but it has rejected the court’s view that this should also apply to any time spent logged into the app waiting for customers. The move follows last month’s landmark ruling by the UK’s highest court, which backed a group of 35 Uber drivers who first challenged their self-employed status in 2016, arguing the ride-share giant was exerting overbearing control over them in the way it allocated rides and set fares.
https://www.ft.com/content/8d39472b-12a1-4754-bb11-b9149dab2872
