Chiara Muston comments in People Management on 'empty time' and the gig economy

A nearly decade-long dispute about the worker status of over 900 Addison Lee drivers has resulted in an employment tribunal decision, particularly around entitlement to back pay for national minimum wage and unpaid holiday compensation. The ruling was made on the basis that drivers qualified as workers rather than self employed, and should therefore have been paid for all the time they spent logged in to the taxi company's systems.

These so-called 'empty time' periods, where drivers were logged in to the Addison Lee app but not assigned any jobs, were a central aspect of this tribunal case. Employment judge Hyams ruled that logged-in time counts as working time unless it extends beyond four hours after the end of a shift. ​This reflects the direction of the Supreme Court’s 2021 Uber judgment, which determined that time spent logged into an app and ready to take jobs should count as working time.

This judgment could have wider ranging consequences for the protection and rights gig economy workers are entitled to, and how companies must approach their workforce. Indeed, the financial consequences for employers in the gig economy could be significant. Employers may need to reconsider how their apps interact with drivers and couriers to avoid similar disputes. 

Chiara Muston, Associate in our Employment team, comments in People Management:

The impact for gig economy employers is potentially significant: it affects the way in which pay (including holiday pay) is calculated, whether national minimum wage is complied with, and annual leave entitlement. Employers may have to reconsider the interaction between the app and the driver/courier to avoid risks of dispute with financial consequences of great magnitude.

Read the full article in People Management here.