The GMB general union ha claimed another victory for workers fighting “bogus” self-employment, with a settlement that they say is worth tens of thousands of pounds in back pay for delivery drivers.
The GMB was representing a group of drivers in the Midlands working for UK Express, which handles deliveries for Amazon orders. The union argues that the drivers were being wrongly defined as self-employed rather than employees, and were therefore entitled to the benefits of employment such as paid annual leave, the national minimum wage, paid rest breaks and legal protection from unfair dismissal.
The case was set to go to a tribunal, but GMB say an agreement has now been reached with some of the drivers receiving nearly £20,000 in back pay.
GMB’s legal director, Maria Ludkin, said:
This is yet another brick in the road in GMB’s battle against bogus self-employment.
Some employers seem to think they can avoid paying the minimum wage, or giving their workers the protection.
However, as Amazon and UK Express have now realised, this is not optional, it’s the law.
The drivers delivering for Amazon, like Uber drivers and delivery drivers for DX, are clearly employees and it is gratifying that the company are shelling out 100 per cent of the amounts claimed.
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