21st February 2021
Uber drivers win landmark victory
Written by Helen Hargreaves
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The recent victory for Uber drivers in their long-running employment tribunal case, in which the Supreme Court has judged that they are indeed workers rather than self-employed, will have a big impact on similar businesses in the gig economy. But not only that, it raises the profile of employment status, just as we approach the introduction of changes to the off-payroll working rules for private sector businesses.
The new rules means that all public sector organisations, along with medium and large businesses in the private sector, must assess the employment status for tax purposes of contractors providing services through an intermediary.
Whilst HMRC and employment tribunals have similar approaches when determining employment status, they often reach different conclusions on the same facts. An individual regarded as being employed for tax purposes will not necessarily be regarded as an employee for the purposes of employment legislation, entitled to certain rights such as unfair dismissal or redundancy. However, this landmark ruling does make us wonder whether it is only a matter of time before the principles of employment status are aligned.
You can read the full judgement on the following link https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2019-0029-judgment.pdf
Listen to the MBKB webinar for more information about changes to the off-payroll working rules.
