Following today’s news that Uber drivers in the UK are now entitled to basic employment rights, we’ve spoken to members of the country’s tech community to find out just how the landmark ruling may affect employees working across the sharing economy.
Whether for or against the decision, here’s what some pundits had to say.
A legal perspective
Hannah Ford, a lawyer at Stevens & Bolton LLP, commented on the news and the negative implications the ruling would have for other technology firms.
“Today’s decision should send shivers down the spines of technology businesses who have failed to factor in ‘worker rights’ costs such as holiday pay, national minimum wage and sick pay.
“UK Employment Tribunals are used to hearing respondents bleat that the Claimant himself sought the freedom of self-employed status, then, when it no longer suited him, flitted to ask for workers’ rights. That sort of ‘cake and eat it’ argument is rarely persuasive. The Tribunal will always seek to determine what the reality of the situation is now, and whether the various tests of worker status have been met.”...