Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) Rules That Taxi Driver Working Through Mytaxi App Was Not A ‘Worker’

Johnson v Transopco UK Ltd [2022] EAT 6

Case background

Mr Johnson registered as a taxi driver on Transopco UK Ltd’s (Transopco) ‘Mytaxi’ app in February 2017. Between April 2017 and April 2018 he completed 282 trips via the app at a total value of £4,560.48 after commission. Mr Johnson also earned £30,472.45 as a self-employed driver through other sources.

In August 2018, Mr Johnson brought an employment tribunal claim against Transopco. His complaints included:

• Failure to pay national minimum wage;
• Unlawful deduction from wages;
• Working-time holiday pay; and
• Detrimental treatment for whistleblowing.

In order to pursue these complaints, Mr Johnson had to be considered a ‘worker’ under s230(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Employment Tribunal (ET) decision

The ET found that Mr Johnson was not a worker of Transopco. It held that Transopco and Mr Johnson contracted with each other as two businesses and that Transopco was essentially a client or customer of Mr Johnson’s taxi-driving business.

The ET reached this conclusion by highlighting that Mr Johnson could provide his services as often or as little as he wanted, he could dictate the timing of his services and he was not under control by Transopco as to how those services were undertaken.

It also noted that Mr Johnson carried out, on average, 1.5 trips a day via the Mytaxi app which represented less than 15% of his overall income derived from taxi driving.

Mr Johnson subsequently appealed the ET’s decision, claiming that it had:

Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision  

The EAT dismissed Mr Johnson’s appeal.  It held that the ET was entitled to rely upon its findings of the proportion of time spent by Mr Johnson and the income he earned via the Mytaxi app.  The EAT considered whether Mr Johnson’s work for Transopco formed a part of his own business and concluded that it was not a dependent work relationship. It concluded that the ET’s findings were soundly and thoughtfully reasoned.

Comment

It is important to distinguish whether an individual is an employee, worker, or self-employed under relevant employment law and this requires a detailed and complex analysis.  A number of employment rights such as unfair dismissal, maternity leave, and redundancy pay are only provided to those categorised as an ‘employee’ (and not to workers). Likewise, certain employment rights (such as national minimum wage and paid holiday) are provided to those categorised as a ‘worker’ (as well as employees).