App-based work: what Uber v Aslam tells us about worker status
Why a contract label did not settle worker status in Uber v Aslam, and which records help explain how platform work operates in practice.
A platform may describe someone as an independent contractor while controlling important parts of the work. When preparing an employment consultation, describing that control is often more useful than repeating the label in the agreement.
Jurisdiction discussed: England and Wales. Case: Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5. Judgment date: 19 February 2021.
What happened and what the Court decided
The Supreme Court dismissed Uber’s appeal and upheld the finding that the claimant drivers were workers for the relevant statutory protections. It considered the actual relationship, including control over fares, terms, acceptance of work and performance. On the tribunal’s findings, working time included periods when a driver was logged in within the authorised territory and ready and willing to take trips, rather than only time carrying passengers.
What the decision does not settle
This did not make every platform user an employee, nor decide every arrangement used by every platform. Worker status and employee status are different questions. The decision concerned the evidence and legislation in that case; current terms and later developments require separate examination.
Preparing for a consultation
- Keep the terms that applied during the period in dispute, not only today’s version.
- Record who set prices, allocated tasks and responded when work was refused or cancelled.
- Preserve pay statements, availability records, warnings and relevant correspondence you are entitled to retain.
Questions to take to a lawyer
- Which rights am I asking about, and what status test applies to those rights?
- How did the written terms compare with day-to-day working arrangements?
- Which periods of work, payments and possible deadlines need to be examined first?
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Official sources
Sources checked on 19 October 2026. The press summary assists readers but is not part of the judgment’s reasons. This article is a case-reading note, not advice on an individual matter. Current law, later decisions and any procedural deadlines require separate checking.