Warwick Business School comments on Uber announcement

Commenting on the announcement that Uber will offer new rights to drivers, including holiday pay and pension,

Professor John Colley, Associate Dean of Warwick Business School, said:

"Unfortunately, the Uber approach is to avoid paying the minimum wage for ride hailing taxi drivers.

"This certainly presents the picture that ride hailing and food delivery firms are less about technology, which after all is not proprietary, and more about paying workers less than the law requires for the hours they are logged on. Perhaps that is where their competitive advantage really lies.

"At least they have accepted the need for holiday pay and some pension provision.

"The bulk of Uber drivers are known to earn their main living from ride hailing, it is not pocket money for most.

"We can expect more court cases from drivers which Uber will no doubt fight all the way to the Supreme Court. However, backpay is mounting if Uber should lose which will be a problem as London is Uber’s most important market outside the USA."