Bolt Drivers Win Worker Status

An Employment Tribunal in Bandi & Others v (1) Bolt Operations OÜ and (2) Bolt Services UK Limited has determined that drivers of the Estonian based private hire operator, Bolt, are workers of Bolt and are therefore entitled to workers’ rights. It is anticipated that the compensation figure could exceed £200 million, with 15,000 Bolt drivers across the UK due to be recompensed for underpayment of wages and unpaid, backdated holiday pay.

What is a worker?

The definition of a worker, as per Section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, is an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under)

(a) a contract of employment, or

(b) any other contract, whether express or implied and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing, whereby the individual undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract whose status is not by virtue of the contract that of a client or customer of any profession or business undertaking carried on by the individual;

and any reference to a worker’s contract shall be construed accordingly.

From the above, workers can be employees if they enter into or work under a contract of employment  – point (a) above (known as limb (a).  Limb (b) applies to workers who are not employees but work under a personal service contract (as it is usually referred to), where the relationship is not one of professional or business working for a client or customer. This means not all workers are employees, but they do have a reduced number of employment related rights. Workers (sometimes referred to as “limb b” workers) are not usually entitled to be offered regular or guaranteed hours by an employer, and workers have little obligation to make themselves available for work.

Workers are entitled to the National Minimum Wage, the statutory minimum paid holiday entitlement, protection against unlawful deduction of wages, protection against less favourable treatment for working part time, and unlawful discrimination and whistleblowing protection. Unlike employees, workers are not entitled to protection against unfair dismissal (employees currently qualify for protection after two years of continuous service, although this is due to become a day one right under the Employment Rights Bill), time off for dependents, statutory redundancy pay or the right to a minimum notice period. Workers are also not entitled to shared parental, maternity and/or paternity, or parental bereavement leave.

Background

Bolt is an Estonian based private hire platform which allows app users to order transport or food delivery. Bolt operates out of 45 countries across Europe, Africa, Western Asia and Latin America. Its main market competitor, Uber, won a legal battle in 2021 which ruled that Uber drivers were legally classified as workers and were not self-employed. The Court decided on the facts that “drivers were not independent contractors, but that they worked for Uber and were therefore entitled to certain employment rights.” That is employment rights related to workers as above.

The Tribunal’s decision on worker status

Off the back of the Uber decision, Bolt drivers brought proceedings in The London Central Employment Tribunal and following a three week hearing in September 2024, the Tribunal concluded that “the drivers did work ‘for’ Bolt: they were the skilled labour which the company required in order to run its transportation business and earn its profits” and rejected the notion that Bolt workers operated on an agency basis stating “it was the work of Bolt (and in particular its lawyers) to craft bogus documentation designed to set up and protect the agency-based construct” and “there is nothing in the relationship which demands, or even suggests, agency”.

This case follows a recent trend in judicial decisions that show that even if those engaged in the so called “Gig Economy” are not employees, they are invariably going to be classified as workers. Bolt drivers will now be entitled to receive the National Minimum wage as well as the statutory minimum paid holiday, which is currently 5.6 weeks.

This isn’t the first time we have seen a judgement of this nature and we do not anticipate it will be the last. In 2021, the Supreme Court decided that Uber drivers should also be afforded worker status. Many Tribunals are wrestling with cases for the consideration of worker status of those engaged by Addison Lee and Ola.

However, the recent judgement in Johnson v GT Gettaxi has provided a contrasting view and determined that a black cab driver who was using an app which allowed the public to order a black cab from that or any other driver, was not a worker. The app was used as a tool to increase their own independent business. The Tribunal found that the Respondent’s drivers were not workers, and thus the Claimant was not a worker of the Respondent. The Claimant tried to draw on similarities of the Uber case, but this case did not reach the same level of factors that pointed to worker status. The Tribunal found that:

1. Uber would penalise the driver whenever its drivers deviated from the allocated navigated route, but this was not the case for the driver using the black cab app
2. The driver in this instance could operate independently of the app. The driver could be hailed down by a pedestrian and accept them, whereas this is not the case with Uber driver and they operated solely via the app system
3. The driver could arrange direct trips with passengers
4. There was no penalty by the app for declining ride offers.

So what do these decisions mean for the Gig Economy?

A Gig Economy is an economic framework that relies heavily upon those in temporary, contract, part-time or freelance positions. Despite the ruling in Johnson v GT Gettaxi, it appears more and more individuals within the Gig economy will be given worker status, when they make claims for e.g. holiday pay.

In response to the judgement, Leigh Day solicitor Charlotte Pettman, who represents the Bolt drivers, stated “Gig economy operators cannot continue to falsely classify their workers as independent contractors running their own business to avoid providing the rights those workers are properly entitled to” and called for Bolt to compensate the drivers. There will be another hearing, known as a remedy hearing, to determine exactly how much compensation in respect of claims for underpayment of wages and unpaid, backdated holiday pay each individual claimant will be awarded. If you require assistance regarding any of the issues raised within this article, the Employment team at Thomson Snell & Passmore would be happy to assist.