This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A group of Hermes couriers have won their fight to be treated as workers instead of independent contractors in what has been described as one of the most significant victories against exploitation of gig-economy workers.



An employment tribunal in Leeds ruled that the couriers were entitled to receive the minimum wage and holiday pay, and to reclaim unlawful deductions from their wages, because they had incorrectly been classified as self-employed.

The GMB, which helped bring the claim, said the ruling was likely to affect 14,500 Hermes couriers who are engaged under the same contract as the 65 couriers who took the case to the tribunal.

Frank Field, the Labour chair of the work and pensions committee, said the decision ranked “among the most substantial judicial interventions ever to support vulnerable workers in this country”.

Union wins first round in Deliveroo high court employment challenge Read more

The GMB’s general secretary, Tim Roache, described it as “another nail in the coffin of the exploitative, bogus self-employment model which is increasingly rife across the UK”.

He said: “Bosses can’t just pick and choose which laws to obey. Workers’ rights were hard won, GMB isn’t about to sit back and let them be eroded or removed by the latest loophole employers have come up with to make a few extra quid.”

Roache urged Hermes to have a meaningful discussion with the union but the delivery company indicated it would appeal against the judgment.

A Hermes spokesman said: “We will carefully review the tribunal’s decision, but we are likely to appeal it given that it goes against previous decisions, our understanding of the witness evidence and what we believe the law to be.

“Nevertheless we have always been fully prepared for any outcome of this decision and its impact on 15 couriers and [the] former couriers [who took the case].”

The judgment mirrors verdicts in cases brought against Uber, Addison Lee, City Sprint, Excel and eCourier, where judges have ruled that the staff should be given the legal classification as “workers”, thereby receiving the minimum wage and holiday pay.

The GMB has announced legal action against three Amazon delivery companies on the same principles.

The union said there would be a further hearing in the tribunal to determine the holiday pay, minimum wage and any unlawful deductions to which the Hermes couriers are entitled.

Michael Newman, from the solicitors Leigh Day, said: “This judgment acknowledges that Hermes couriers, as the customer-fronting ‘face of Hermes’, play an integral part in the success of the company. It confirms that they work for Hermes as part of Hermes’ business.”

Field, who co-authored a 2016 report, Wild West Workplace, Self-Employment in Britain’s “Gig Economy”, said it was “a mega knockback to those companies still using old means of exploiting vulnerable workers”.

In February Theresa May announced a number of new labour policies that she said would help uphold workers’ rights, in response to a Downing Street-commissioned review which called on the government to improve the quality of work for people on low pay.



However, to the disappointment of workers, trade unions and Labour, the government only pledged to consult on possible changes to the use of self-employment, which may not include changing the law.