The law firm that successfully represented Uber drivers in workers’ rights proceedings is now standing behind a group of drivers bringing similar claims against eCourier.
A group of discontented drivers who believe they should be classified as workers as opposed to independent contractors and entitled to UK employment law protections has launched group proceedings against Royal Mail subsidiary eCourier.
The opt-in claim has been brought by UK law firm Leigh Day on behalf of a group of 15 former eCourier drivers with membership in the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) trade union. Standing ready to join the claim is a larger organised group of drivers that work at eCourier, or that have worked at the company in the past 10 weeks, with Leigh Day estimating that up to 500 similarly positioned drivers may also be eligible.
Drivers working at eCourier – a delivery company which, among other ‘time-bound’ services, runs a medical courier service delivering blood and equipment – are engaged on a self-employed basis. The crux of the claim rests on the argument that eCourier’s level of influence over the drivers – with the company setting delivery expectations, managing routes and penalising drivers for refusing to take on jobs – should see the drivers’ reclassified as workers.
An anonymous eCourier driver involved in the claim said: “We’re told we’re self-employed, but eCourier controls how and when we work. It doesn’t feel like we have a choice – we...
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