The Central London Employment Tribunal ruled that a group of Addison Lee drivers were workers and were entitled to workers’ rights such as minimum wage and holiday pay.

Addison Lee argued that its drivers were self-employed, however the London tribunal ruled that three drivers, who claimed they earned the equivalent of about £5 an hour as self-employed contractors, should have been treated as workers and must receive the minimum wage of £7.50 an hour and holiday pay. The drivers will also be owed back pay.

The drivers’ claims, which are supported by the trade union, GMB, were heard by the tribunal in July 2017. Last week, it was reported that Addison Lee had applied to appeal that one of its workers deserved basic employment rights.

Liana Wood, from the Employment team at law firm Leigh Day, which represents the drivers, said: “We are very pleased that the Employment Tribunal has found in favour of our clients. "This judgment acknowledges the central contribution that Addison Lee’s drivers have made to the success of the company by confirming that its drivers are not self-employed but that they work for Addison Lee as part of Addison Lee’s business.”

"Addison Lee advertises itself as a premium driving service and seeks to ensure that its drivers meet the high standard required for that premium service,” Wood said. “However, Addison Lee drivers very often work very long hours, in excess of 60 hours a week, in order to just earn enough to cover their basic living costs. Addison Lee has sought to deny its drivers the most basic workers’ rights, including to be paid the National Minimum Wage and to receive paid holiday.”

The case follows a similar case involving ridesharing firm Uber in which a London employment tribunal ruled that Uber drivers in the UK should be classified as workers and not self-employed, thus they should be entitled to basic employment rights.

"This is a very important decision by the Employment Tribunal and will go some way to addressing these issues,” Wood said. “This decision will not just have an impact on the thousands of Addison Lee drivers but, following on from the decision in Uber, on all workers in the so-called gig economy whose employers classify them as self-employed and deny them the rights to which they are entitled.”

“Once again the courts have agreed with our argument regarding bogus self-employment,” Maria Ludkin, GMB Legal Director, said. “Addison Lee drivers are workers and are therefore entitled to workers’ rights. This ruling means yet another logistics firm has been forced to obey the law and honour responsibilities to employees. GMB will continue to pursue these exploitative companies on behalf of our members.”

There will now be a further hearing in the Employment Tribunal to calculate the holiday and pay that the drivers should receive.