Taxi and courier firm Addison Lee lost its appeal yesterday against a claim that its drivers are workers and not self-employed.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld a decision last year which found that Addison Lee drivers were workers and are entitled to workers’ rights such as minimum wage and holiday pay.

The decision will affect thousands of drivers and follows similar landmark employment rulings involving gig economy firms Uber and Hermes.

According to the BBC, the EAT explained its ruling and said that it had rejected Addison Lee's arguments that the drivers were self-employed contractors running their own businesses and confirmed that the "unrealistic terms and conditions" that drivers had to sign up to did not reflect the true nature of their relationship with the company.

Sue Harris, Legal Director of trade union GMB, which brought the case, commented, “This is another huge win for GMB over bogus self-employment. Once again the courts have agreed Addison Lee drivers are legally entitled to workers’ rights such as the national minimum wage and holiday pay rights.”

Liana Wood, solicitor at Leigh Day who represents the drivers on behalf of GMB, also commented, “It is clear that Addison Lee’s business model of providing a fleet of highly trained, regulated drivers is incompatible with their arguments that drivers are not workers who are entitled to workers’ fundamental rights. 

“We hope that Addison Lee will accept this decision; drivers shouldn’t have to continue to work very long hours, often in excess of 60 hours per week, to earn just enough to meet their basic living costs,” Wood said.

Michaell Lange, one of the drivers who have brought claims against Addison Lee, said, “We decided to bring this claim in 2016 because we wanted Addison Lee to treat drivers fairly; we are happy that the decision that we were workers for Addison Lee has been upheld. We now urge Addison Lee to do the decent thing and stop denying its workforce of over 4000 drivers their rights.”

Addison Lee has the right to appeal against the ruling at the Court of Appeal.

In a statement, Addison Lee said, “We note the appeal verdict, which we will carefully review. Addison Lee is disappointed with the ruling as we enjoy a positive relationship with the vast majority of our 3,800 driver partners.”

“In common with most of the industry, the majority are self-employed. With earnings at a record high, over 60 per cent said they were likely or very likely to recommend working for Addison Lee in our most recent driver satisfaction survey,” Addison Lee stated.