Deliveroo drivers lose High Court battle

The High Court has dismissed a judicial review launched by the IWGB trade union against earlier decisions by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) and the High Court which had found that Deliveroo riders were self-employed.

The decision means the delivery app’s riders are not in an “employment relationship” for the purposes of European law and therefore not entitled to collective bargaining.

The union claimed that not allowing collective bargaining breached the human rights of Deliveroo riders, under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This is the first case to consider status of gig economy workers in the context of the applicability of human rights laws.

Dan Warne, UK MD of Deliveroo said: “We are pleased that today’s judgment upholds the earlier decisions of the High Court and the CAC that Deliveroo riders are self-employed, providing them the flexibility they want. In addition to emphatically confirming this under UK national law, the Court also carefully examined the question under European law and concluded riders are self-employed.

“This a victory for riders who have consistently told us the flexibility to choose when and where they work, which comes with self-employment, is their number one reason for riding with Deliveroo. We will continue to seek to offer riders more security and make the case that government should end the trade off in Britain between flexibility and security.”