
Hearing to decide worker status of Addison Lee drivers set to begin
A three-week hearing to decide whether Addison Lee drivers should be classified as workers and entitled to back-dated compensation for holiday pay and loss of earnings is due to begin on Monday 28 October at Watford Employment Tribunal.
Posted on 25 October 2024
Approximately 700 drivers, represented by Leigh Day, will have their claims heard at the upcoming hearing. They will argue that they are workers, rather than self-employed independent contractors.
In 2017, the Employment Tribunal ruled that three Addison Lee drivers were workers, entitling them to rights such as holiday pay and the national minimum wage.
Addison Lee appealed this ruling, but this was dismissed after a 2021 Supreme Court ruling in favour of Uber drivers in a similar claim. This resulted in the Court of Appeal deciding that Addison Lee’s appeal should not proceed, and a settlement was reached with the three drivers out of court in February 2024.
However, Addison Lee argues that the 2017 judgment does not apply to the other 700 drivers who have brought claims since.
In July 2024, the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld that the company would have to pay six-figure deposit orders to be able to continue with parts of its defence, due to it having little chance of succeeding.
Over the next three weeks, Leigh Day will argue on behalf of the drivers that they should be classified as workers and paid at least the national minimum wage for all the hours they are logged on to Addison Lee’s system and available for work, as well as entitled to worker’s rights such as holiday pay.
Should the claim be successful, it will also result in back-dated compensation for holiday pay and earnings in relation to the national minimum wage. This compensation may be substantial for many drivers who have long service working for Addison lee.
Leigh Day employment solicitor Liana Wood said:
“We hope we will achieve a positive outcome for Addison Lee drivers, many of whom worked at a similar time to three drivers who already received a settlement and have been waiting for this hearing for many years. Workers deserve to be paid properly for the work they do for Addison Lee and all other companies operating in the gig economy.”