Sep 11, 2024

More than 12,500 drivers are bringing action against ride-hailing firm as Labour prepares plans to strengthen employment rights Drivers working for Bolt, the ride-hailing app operator, are seeking to be classed as workers rather than self-employed contractors at an employment tribunal. More than 12,500 drivers, who are represented by the law firm Leigh Day, are bringing the action against Bolt, an Estonia-based ride-hailing app which has been operating in the UK since 2019. The drivers claim they should be treated as workers because of the significant control Bolt has over how they work, and say they should be given the same rights and protections as typical workers. The high-profile employment rights case, which begins in central London on Wednesday, comes as the new Labour government prepares to draw up its plans to strengthen workers’ rights in legislation. In the UK there are two types of employment status: employees and workers, both entitled to holiday pay and minimum wage. However, employees enjoy much broader rights, such as being able to sue for unfair dismissal. Independent contractors do not have any of these rights. The litigation against Bolt comes three years after its rival Uber lost a landmark case at the UK’s supreme court which found that Uber drivers were workers, rather than being self-employed, and so were entitled to rights such as the minimum wage. Companies operating in the gig economy have been under pressure since then to improve pay and conditions for drivers and couriers. Charlotte Pettman, an associate solicitor at Leigh Day, said eight drivers were due to testify at the hearings. “This is one of the biggest cases of its kind in recent years,” she said. “Over the next three weeks, the employment tribunal will hear about the Bolt drivers’ working conditions and decide whether they are workers and entitled to compensation for unpaid holiday pay and shortfalls to the “national living wage”.” Bolt, which does not class the drivers as workers, announced as of 1 August its drivers would receive holiday pay and a guarantee of the “national living wage”. As of April 2023, there were an estimated 100,000 Bolt drivers in the UK working in cities including Manchester and London . Leigh Day, which is representing the drivers on a “no win, no fee” agreement, will argue that the way Bolt is calculating these payments is not compliant with current legislation, and has said this means they are not entitled to compensation for previous unpaid holiday or shortfalls to the national living wage – which the drivers are claiming as part of the lawsuit. Bolt said that its business model “enables drivers to be their own boss, and the majority of private-hire drivers consistently state that they wish to remain self-employed independent contractors, as they value the flexibility, personal control over pricing, and earning potential offered by this model”.