Just Eat couriers claim

Just Eat couriers work under contracts which seek to classify them as self-employed independent contractors. Self-employed independent contractors are not entitled to receive paid holiday or the National Minimum Wage.

We are arguing that due to the way in which Just Eat couriers work in practice, they should be classed as employees or workers, rather than self-employed independent contractors.

This would entitle couriers to receive a statement of employment particulars, which is a document stating the main conditions of employment. Workers have the right to receive the National Minimum Wage and paid holiday. We are bringing claims on behalf of Just Eat to ensure they can access these benefits and protections.

We previously represented thousands of drivers in a similar worker status claim against Uber. In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers were workers, and were therefore entitled to receive holiday pay and the National Minimum Wage.

There are similarities in how Uber drivers and Just Eat couriers work, and we believe there is a strong case that Just Eat couriers should also receive rights, protections and compensation for unpaid holiday and shortfalls between their pay and the National Minimum Wage.

We understand that you may have some questions about the process.

To make the whole process easier, we have set up a dedicated area for Just Eat couriers to find out more information about the claim and to sign up. We’ve also created some resources to help you understand the Just Eat couriers’ claim:

• You can visit our FAQs page for answers to the most common questions about the claim.
• We do not act for big corporations; we act for individuals. Want to know who we are? Read our About Us.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for on the website, a member of our team will be happy to talk to you. Please email justeat@leighday.co.uk or call 020 3780 0263.

Joining the claim is straightforward and only takes a few minutes. You don’t need to provide any documents to find out if you can join the claim.

Anyone who has delivered for Just Eat under its "self-employed independent contractor" arrangement in England, Scotland or Wales within the last 10 weeks may be eligible to join the claim.

To start your claim, you simply need to:

• Provide basic personal and eligibility details; and
• Agree to the terms and conditions.

You can do so via our secure online form, or you can speak to one of our friendly team members by phone.

How much will it cost to sign-up?

The claim is ‘no win, no fee’ meaning that you pay nothing upfront or if your claim is unsuccessful, as long as you abide by the terms and conditions.

If you succeed in your claim, our fee will be a percentage of your compensation (25% plus VAT).

After we have assessed your eligibility and you have agreed to our ‘no win no fee’ agreement, you will be part of the claim; it is that simple!

Once you have signed up to the claim and agreed our terms, that’s when we (Leigh Day) get to work.

You will receive a confirmation email from us letting you know that you have successfully signed up to the claim.

We will notify Acas of your intention to start proceedings and then submit your claim to the Employment Tribunal.

Once your claim has been submitted to Acas, you will receive periodical updates from Leigh Day, so that you are kept informed every step of the way. Our communications will include:

• requests for further information to support your claim;
• regular claim updates; and
• news on any major developments affecting your claims.

Important to note: An employment claim has several stages to work through so it can take a long time, years in many cases, to conclude. Where possible, we will be claiming for losses incurred during the entire time that you have delivered for Just Eat. The amount of compensation owed to you will therefore continue to increase as the claim progresses, as long as you are still a courier for Just Eat. We will also be claiming for compensation where Just Eat has paid you less than the National Minimum Wage.

If your claim is successful, you will receive a sum of compensation. Find out more about this in our FAQs section. From that, you’ll need to pay the agreed fee of 25% (plus VAT) for the services we have provided.

If your claim is not successful, you will not need to pay anything under our ‘no win no fee’ agreement, provided you keep to the terms of the agreement.

We think that Just Eat couriers will be entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation.

We are claiming:

• Backpay for unpaid holiday
• Compensation if you received less than the National Minimum Wage
• Compensation for the failure to provide you with an employment contract.

We will calculate your compensation using various sources of information, which could include data we request from Just Eat, as well as your financial documents such as your tax returns/accounts, bank statements and payslips.

If you are successful in your claim, we will deduct 25% plus VAT from your compensation for our legal fees.

If you lose, you should not have to pay Just Eat’s legal fees, unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as if you behave in a vexatious, abusive, disruptive or otherwise unreasonable manner, or ignore an order of the Tribunal.

Yes, you can still join the claim if you have delivered directly for Just Eat (using the Just Eat courier app) in the last 10 weeks.

If you have not delivered for Just Eat in the last 10 weeks, please register your details on the sign-up page. This could be worthwhile, as you may be able to join the claim in the future if you deliver for Just Eat again.

If you have only delivered for Just Eat using the Stuart app, you cannot join the claim. However, if you have also delivered directly for Just Eat (using the Just Eat courier app) in the last 10 weeks, then you can still join the claim.

Just Eat should not penalise its couriers for bringing a legal claim.

As an employee or worker, you have legal protection from Just Eat mistreating you for claiming these rights. If Just Eat deactivated your account or changed the conditions of your work because of your legal claim, you may be entitled to additional compensation.

If the Employment Tribunal finds couriers bringing a claim should be classified as employees, it is possible that HMRC will decide Just Eat should have deducted income tax and National Insurance contributions from every courier’s previous earnings via PAYE.

If HMRC decides this, there’s a possibility the tax that should have been deducted from your salary is more than the tax you paid under self-assessment. If that is the case, and HMRC decide to take action, we believe it’s more likely that HMRC will require Just Eat (rather than individual couriers) to pay any shortfall in tax.

The risk that HMRC will ask you and every other courier to pay any shortfall in tax is low. Even if HMRC does ask you to pay the difference between your tax payable on a self-employment basis and PAYE, the difference between the two is likely to be relatively small.

We are not, however, able to provide more specific advice on your individual circumstances with respect to tax. Instead, if you have any concerns about the position relating to tax, we recommend that you seek advice from an accountant or tax adviser.

If you join the Just Eat couriers’ claim and then stop delivering for Just Eat, or if Just Eat deactivates your account, you should update our team via email and let us know the date you last drove for Just Eat.

Leaving Just Eat will not affect your ability to continue with your claim.

We see no reason as to why you should have less flexibility as an employee or worker, rather than a self-employed independent contractor.

Just Eat simply needs to ensure it allows couriers to take time off and to pay them for this, in the same way that any employee or worker is entitled to paid holiday. Just Eat also needs to make sure that the rate it pays its couriers is high enough that they receive at least the National Minimum Wage, once you take into account the time spent working and any expenses.

The amount of holiday entitlement is relatively easy to calculate, even for employees or workers who don’t work fixed hours. The claim is simply to make sure that Just Eat pays you holiday pay and the National Minimum Wage.

You would not need to have a fixed working pattern or a set number of working hours in order for Just Eat to calculate your holiday pay and the National Minimum Wage.

No, you do not need to provide any documents to join the claim.

Once you join the claim, we will contact you with further information. During the course of the claim, we may ask you to provide documents to support your claim, such as documents which may assist us in calculating your compensation. We will contact you if we need anything from you.

Yes, it is similar.

Leigh Day represented thousands of drivers in a worker status claim against Uber.

In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers were workers, rather than self-employed independent contractors. Uber drivers are now entitled to receive holiday pay, the National Minimum Wage and other benefits from Uber.