Deliveroo riders take first step in legal challenge for employment rights
Law firm Leigh Day have confirmed that they have issued legal claims on behalf of 45 Deliveroo riders to the Employment Tribunal.
Posted on 01 November 2017
The law firm, which also represents Uber drivers in their fight for workers’ rights, expects many more Deliveroo riders to join the legal case as riders fight for employment rights from the popular food delivery company.
Leigh Day began advising Deliveroo riders on potential legal claims at the beginning of this year and have submitted 45 claims to the Employment Tribunal (ET) so far.
The case will be heard for the first time in the ET for a preliminary hearing on Thursday 2 November 2017. The hearing is due to be held in private and an Employment Judge will set out the timetable for the case as it moves forward, including a date for a hearing to decide whether riders are employees or workers, or whether they are self-employed contractors as Deliveroo claims.
The Deliveroo riders claim that they are entitled to rights including the national minimum wage and holiday pay.
Annie Powell, a solicitor in the Leigh Day’s employment team who also represents Uber drivers in their fight for workers’ rights, said:
“At the moment, Deliveroo riders are given no employment protection whatsoever: if they’re involved in an accident when they work, they receive no sick pay; if they want to take time off, they are given no holiday pay, and they are not guaranteed the National Minimum Wage.
“From the evidence we have seen, some of our clients have been paid significantly below the National Minimum Wage, with shortfalls ranging from tens of pounds to hundreds of pounds below the legal minimum.
“We are claiming that these riders are employees of Deliveroo and that Deliveroo is acting unlawfully in denying riders these rights.
“All of the riders we represent in this claim work shifts and are paid by the hour. It is not the case, as Deliveroo has claimed, that they can log in and work whenever they want. Our argument is that these riders are controlled, managed and disciplined by Deliveroo and that they clearly do not carry out their own delivery businesses, as Deliveroo argues.”