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Bolt motorists win UK tribunal claim over 'employees' employment status

Drivers for ridehailing and food shipment startup Bolt in Britain on Friday won a case to be lawfully acknowledged as workers, entitling them to holiday pay and the minimum wage.

Around 10,000 current and previous Bolt motorists took legal action against Bolt at a London work tribunal, arguing that they were officially employees under British law.

Bolt, which is headquartered in Estonia, argued at a hearing previously this year that it was simply an agent for drivers, who participated in separate contracts with their passengers, but its case was mostly declined.

Chauffeurs were workers when they were in the territory in which they are accredited to run and have the Bolt app turned on, the tribunal stated in its written ruling.

Extremely, the power lies with Bolt, the tribunal stated. There is absolutely nothing in the relationship which requires, or even suggests, firm.

The tribunal included: We discover that the supposed contract between the Bolt driver and the traveler is a fiction developed by Bolt-- and in particular its legal representatives-- to beat the argument that it has an employer/worker relationship with the motorist.

A Bolt spokesperson stated: Drivers are at the heart of what we do and we have always supported the overwhelming majority's. choice to stay self-employed independent professionals,. safeguarding their flexibility, individual control, and earning. capacity.

The spokesperson included that Bolt would carefully evaluate our. alternatives, including grounds for appeal.

Attorneys representing the complaintants did not instantly. respond to a request for remark.

Friday's judgment is the current worrying the status of those. operating in the so-called gig economy, following a landmark 2021. ruling by the Supreme Court that Uber drivers were workers.

(source: Reuters)