the supreme court has ruled that a group
of uber drivers must be treated as
workers rather than self-employed a
decision which means they could be
entitled to a minimum wage and holiday
pay
the decision marks the end of a
five-year legal battle
the case could have implications for
many others with more here's our
transport correspondent
caroline davis supreme court unanimously
dismisses uber's appeal
relief after years of fighting
today outside the supreme court yasin
and james heard the decision they'd been
waiting for
that when driving for uber they were
workers not self-employed
i'm delighted to be honest it's victory
and
and i think it sends a strong signal to
companies like uber these big massive
companies that
you know the workers can fight them they
spent millions of pounds
to try and defeat workers i mean it's
reprehensible that they've done this but
i'm just so delighted thrilled and
relieved worker status is not the same
as an employee but it means that they
had the right to a minimum wage and
holiday pay
the ride hailing app which connects
drivers with passengers uber has always
claimed it's an intermediary but that
was rejected by the supreme court
uber say this judgment only applies to
the drivers that first brought the case
in 2016
not to every uber driver in the country
because uber say
they've made changes since then some
drivers and lawyers would disagree
today the courts set out the reasons why
it thought these uber drivers were
workers which included the fact
that uber set the pay and the contracts
without any say
from the drivers how today's verdict
will affect today's drivers and other
workers
will be the subject of future court
cases other companies in the gig economy
may already be working out what this
might mean for them
they're going to have to look at their
business model if they think that they
can continue
with this self-employed model um it's
quite clear that
the judiciary isn't afraid to intervene
into this to find that their
self-employed
individuals are actually workers the
court says that a driver is working from
when they log
into the app not just when they have a
passenger some drivers are worried that
if uber have to pay a minimum wage for
those hours
they could cut down on drivers or change
the way uber operates
samuel has driven for uber for the last
five years and is concerned
it doesn't impress me the only reason
why i'm attracted to
drive on the app is the flexibility
uber say that they respect the court's
decision and will now consult with every
active driver across the uk
to understand the changes they want to
see today's case
sets a legal precedent that could have
huge implications for uber
and for other firms that rely on
flexible labor the company that was once
thought of as the big disrupter
might now have been disrupted
caroline davis bbc news