Employment tribunal to decide level of compensation for Addison Lee drivers bringing worker status claim

Law firm Leigh Day represents the drivers in the long-running claim against the private hire operator. Drivers previously succeeded in establishing that they are workers for the purposes of employment law and are therefore entitled to rights such as holiday pay and the national minimum wage. 

A two-week hearing took place in February 2026 in the Watford Employment Tribunal to determine how that compensation should be calculated. 

The difference in what Leigh Day and Addison Lee say the lead claimants should receive in compensation is significant. Addison Lee say the three lead claimants should receive between approximately £500 and £4,000, however Leigh Day lawyers say they are owed between £35,000 and £65,000 plus interest. 

The tribunal heard evidence from four witnesses on behalf of Addison Lee - a Recruitment Agent, the Driver Liaison Manager, the Night Operations Room Manager and the Director of Commercial Finance and Data. Three lead claimants gave evidence on behalf of the drivers represented by Leigh Day. 

The tribunal is now being asked to determine a number of key issues which will affect the level of compensation due to the drivers, including: 

• The circumstances in which a driver’s claim period may be broken, including the impact of longer breaks during the covid pandemic. 
• How holiday pay should be calculated, including whether unpaid holiday taken and certain other payments should affect drivers’ holiday pay entitlement. 
• The appropriate method for calculating drivers’ work-related expenses. 
• The extent to which time drivers spent with their status set to ‘empty’ should be excluded from their ‘working time’ calculations for the purpose of the national minimum wage, if at all.  
• Whether the drivers are entitled to interest on the amounts they are owed and, if so, how much interest.  

The tribunal ruled in January 2025 that Addison Lee drivers are entitled to workers’ rights such as holiday pay and at least the minimum wage. This followed earlier legal battles dating back to 2017, where three Addison Lee drivers were found to be workers, and the 2021 Supreme Court ruling in favour of Uber drivers, which has shaped much of the law in this area. 

The drivers argue that they should be fully compensated for unlawful deductions from wages arising from unpaid holiday pay and failures to pay the national minimum wage, in line with the tribunal’s earlier findings on worker status. 

Judgment following the remedy hearing is expected in the next few months. 

The drivers are represented by Liana Wood, employment solicitor at Leigh Day. 

Liana said: 

“Our clients have already established that they are workers and were denied fundamental employment rights for many years. This hearing was about ensuring that compensation properly reflects the reality of the work they carried out and the losses they have suffered. Addison Lee continue to argue that drivers should be paid very little compensation despite many years of service to the company.  We strongly disagree with this.  We are pleased that the tribunal has now heard all of the evidence and detailed submissions on these complex issues. We look forward to the tribunal’s judgment and hope it will bring long-overdue clarity and justice for more than 900 drivers.”