Uber holiday pay claims (UK 2025-26)

Summary

Uber UK says it pays holiday pay at 12.07% of a driver's "weekly earnings" and bases protections on time from trip acceptance to drop off, not full log-on time. The Supreme Court in Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5 said "working time" is from log-on within the licensed area while ready and willing to take trips, so unions like ADCU and IWGB argue that Uber's model still underpays both minimum wage and holiday by ignoring waiting time. A full time London driver doing about 45 hours a week can easily lose hundreds or thousands of pounds a year compared with what proper working-time based holiday pay should give, so checking statements and sending a clear legal claim, backed by ACAS and a union like ADCU or GMB, matters.

Key facts (UK 2025 to 26)

Statutory holiday for workers in the UK in the 2025 to 26 tax year is still 5.6 weeks a year, which corresponds to 12.07% of working time or pay for irregular hours workers.

After Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5, Uber announced it would pay UK drivers holiday pay at 12.07% of earnings and minimum wage, but only for time from trip acceptance to drop off, not for the full log-on period.

Uber's current "Worker protections" FAQ in April 2026 says "You are entitled to statutory holiday entitlement equal to 12.07% of your weekly earnings (after other expenses as per HMRC). This will be reflected on your pay statement in 'Other earnings and entitlement' under the line item 'Per-trip holiday entitlement'."

The FAQ does not adopt the Supreme Court's log-on working-time definition in practice. It talks about drivers having "complete flexibility" and needing an approach that works in practice, which unions say is code for ignoring waiting time.

ADCU's public statement on Uber's 2021 response to the Supreme Court ruling says Uber is still short-changing drivers by 40% to 50%, because it only counts trip time, whereas the Court said working time runs from log-on to log-off within the licensed territory while ready and willing to accept trips.

IWGB's information on claims against Uber says drivers can claim compensation at the Employment Tribunal for failure to pay holiday pay and minimum wage, and that Uber's compensation offers only covered about the last two years of holiday pay and ignored unpaid waiting time.

A generic holiday calculation for irregular hours workers uses average pay over a reference period. Commentary for gig workers uses 12.07% and warns that many platforms apply it only to "engaged" time, not full working time, which drives underpayment.

Claims for unlawful deductions of wages or holiday pay usually need ACAS early conciliation started within three months minus one day of the last underpayment, and tribunal limitation rules and backdating rules can limit recovery, often to around two years.

Legislation, case law, regulation

Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5. The Supreme Court upheld the finding that drivers were working whenever they were logged into the Uber app, within their licensed territory, and ready and willing to accept trips, and that Uber had to pay at least National Minimum Wage and 5.6 weeks paid holiday on that working time.

Working Time Regulations 1998, which implement the statutory right to 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave for workers and require that holiday pay reflect "normal remuneration", not just basic pay on narrow slices of time.

National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and associated regulations, which the Supreme Court applied alongside working time, confirming that waiting time between trips when logged on counts as working time for pay purposes.

Case summaries and commentary on Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5, which emphasise that the tribunal was entitled to find that drivers were working for Uber London during periods they were logged into the app, within territory and ready to accept trips, and that Uber's attempt to restrict working time to active trip periods was rejected.

Guidance on holiday pay and backdated claims for gig workers, which uses 12.07% and suggests backdating claims up to two years in many cases, though more historic claims may be possible in some circumstances.

How it actually works

From a driver's point of view in 2025 to 26, Uber's holiday pay system looks simple, but that simplicity hides the gap. Uber's current FAQ says holiday is "12.07% of your weekly earnings (after other expenses as per HMRC)" and appears on the pay statement as a "Per-trip holiday entitlement" line. For a driver looking at the statement, that means they see a small extra amount attached to trips or in a weekly "other earnings" field, usually a few pounds here and there.

Behind the scenes, Uber treats holiday as 12.07% of the pay for the periods it chooses to count as "working", and it has chosen the narrowest window it thinks it can defend, namely time from trip acceptance to drop off. That is exactly what ADCU and IWGB say is wrong. The tribunal in Aslam, upheld by the Supreme Court, said working time starts when the driver logs into the app in their licensed area and is ready and willing to accept trips, not just when they have a passenger in the car.

In practice, this means if you work 45 hours a week by logging on and waiting for pings, but only 30 of those hours are "engaged" driving passengers, Uber's 12.07% is applied to the 30 hours of pay, not to the 45 hours' worth of normal remuneration you should have for working time. That gap is the underpayment. ADCU's statement says this under-counting means drivers are still short-changed by roughly 40% to 50% on minimum wage and holiday compared with what Aslam requires.

On the ground, drivers in Facebook groups and Reddit threads complain that their "holiday pay" line looks tiny compared with what they expect. A typical complaint in April 2026 is someone saying they get about £1.49 midweek when they expected 12.07% of net fares, and their sums suggest closer to 7.75% in practice. Uber's support replies often repeat generic wording or refer to "post-expense earnings" and "engaged time", which do not reflect the full Aslam working-time definition.

Unions have responded in different ways. IWGB has pursued group claims for backdated holiday pay and minimum wage, and its site explains that Uber's own compensation offers only covered about the last two years and missed waiting time. ADCU attacks Uber's current model and tells drivers that Uber is still not honouring Aslam properly, especially by ignoring log-on time and unilaterally deciding expense bases. GMB, which has a partnership deal with Uber, publishes less critical "noticeboard" content but still frames holiday pay within the 12.07% statutory entitlement and does not claim that Uber has fixed everything.

For an individual driver, checking underpayment starts with data. You need your total hours logged on, your engaged hours, your gross earnings and the holiday line. To compare with an Aslam-compliant model, you need to treat the whole log-on time as working time and calculate average weekly pay including waiting periods, then apply 5.6 weeks or 12.07% to that figure, not to the smaller "engaged-only" pay.

Once you have numbers, you can send a written claim. That claim should reference Working Time Regulations 1998 and Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5, explain that Uber's current holiday pay model appears to ignore working time from log-on to log-off, and set out the gap in pounds for the 2025 to 26 tax year. It should demand payment of the shortfall plus any associated minimum wage underpayment, and signal that if Uber refuses, you will go to ACAS within the three-months-minus-one-day limit and, if needed, to a tribunal.

Because Uber is a repeat litigator with deep pockets, unions like ADCU and IWGB usually recommend that drivers do not run complicated calculations and tribunal cases alone. Joining ADCU or GMB or talking to firms like Leigh Day or Bates Wells gives more leverage and a better handle on the evolving case law.

Worked example

Take a full time London Uber driver in the 2025 to 26 tax year who is logged on about 45 hours a week, roughly 50 weeks of the year, so about 2,250 hours logged on. He has turnover of around £42,000 in fares and incentives and about £8,000 in allowable expenses for petrol, insurance, repairs and other costs. His Uber app shows that around two thirds of his logged-on time is "engaged" with trips, so roughly 30 hours a week carrying passengers and 15 hours waiting.

Under Uber's current model, ignoring expenses for simplicity, we can think of holiday as 12.07% of "earnings" tied to engaged time. If he earns about £42,000 from 30 engaged hours a week, that is around £28 per engaged hour on average. Apply 12.07% to his engaged-time pay, and he gets roughly £5,070 a year in holiday pay (12.07% of £42,000). Uber's FAQ indicates it calculates 12.07% of "weekly earnings (after other expenses as per HMRC)", so the actual number will vary, but the structure is that holiday is attached to the smaller engaged-time earnings bucket.

If we adopt the Aslam working-time approach, his "working time" is all 2,250 logged-on hours. To get an equivalent normal pay rate, we divide his £42,000 over the full 2,250 hours, which gives about £18.67 per working hour instead of £28 per engaged hour. His statutory holiday under Working Time Regulations 1998 is 5.6 weeks, which is 12.07% of annual working hours or pay. On a working-time basis he should receive 12.07% of the £42,000, which is still £5,070, but the key difference is that Aslam says he should also have minimum wage protection for all 2,250 hours, not just trip time, and "normal remuneration" for holiday should reflect the real pattern of working time and pay.

Where underpayment bites hardest is when Uber's pay and holiday are set only against engaged time, and when drivers have long waiting periods where their real hourly income dips close to or below National Minimum Wage once expenses are included. ADCU estimates that by excluding log-on waiting time from working time, Uber still short-changes drivers by 40% to 50% compared with a true Aslam model. For our driver, if his actual average net hourly income including waiting time and expenses squeezes down to, say, £9 or £10 per hour, his holiday pay calculated only on the higher engaged-time rate will underrepresent the real value of his normal working time. Over a year, that can mean losing hundreds or more than a thousand pounds compared with a holiday calculation truly based on log-on working time and full "normal remuneration" including surge, bonuses and other regular payments.

A template claim letter for this driver would set out his hours, log-on time, engaged time, total earnings, holiday payments received and the difference between what Uber paid and what an Aslam-compliant model would give, then point Uber to Working Time Regulations 1998 and Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5 and ask for the shortfall plus any unpaid minimum wage for waiting time. If Uber refuses or ignores it, he would start ACAS early conciliation within three months minus one day of the most recent underpayment date and contact ADCU or GMB for backing.

Template claim letter structure

Purpose: flag underpayment, reference the law and preserve ACAS/tribunal rights.

Sections:

Driver details and dates.

Statement of worker status based on Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5.

Summary of working time, earnings and holiday pay received.

Legal basis for claim under Working Time Regulations 1998 and Aslam working-time definition.

Calculation of the underpayment.

Request for payment and correction of future holiday calculations.

ACAS warning and union backing.

The actual words will need to be tailored to the latest case law and union advice, but the structure stays the same.

What Reddit, TikTok and forums get wrong

Misinformation: "Holiday pay is just a small bonus on top, you are lucky to get it, and it is not worth arguing about because it is pennies." This attitude appears in r/UberUK threads where drivers focus only on immediate fares. Correction: 5.6 weeks' statutory holiday at 12.07% of normal remuneration adds up across a full time year. For a driver around £42,000 turnover, holiday pay should be several thousand pounds for 2025 to 26, and underpayment can easily be hundreds or thousands of pounds, not pennies.

Misinformation: "Uber fixed everything after the Supreme Court, so if you see 'per-trip holiday entitlement' on your statement, it must be correct." Some drivers repeat Uber's PR line in Facebook groups. Correction: ADCU's 2021 statement and IWGB's claim page both say Uber's model still ignores waiting time and short-changes drivers on both minimum wage and holiday, with ADCU estimating a 40% to 50% shortfall compared with Aslam's log-on working-time definition.

Misinformation: "You can wait five years then claim all your back holiday and minimum wage in one go." This shows up in comments about backdating. Correction: commentary on gig worker rights and IWGB's materials point out that backdating is constrained by tribunal limitation rules and unlawful deduction rules, often to around two years of underpayments, and drivers need to act quickly and use ACAS within three months minus one day of the most recent underpayment or contract termination.

Action steps for the reader

Download your Uber statements for the 2025 to 26 tax year, note your total log-on hours, your engaged hours, your total gross earnings and the total "per-trip holiday entitlement" or holiday pay lines.

Work out your approximate real working-time hourly rate by dividing your total earnings by your total log-on hours, not just engaged hours, and compare your actual holiday pay to what 12.07% of that figure would be.

If you see a large gap and believe Uber has underpaid holiday, draft a claim letter that sets out your figures and cites Working Time Regulations 1998 and Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5 on working time from log-on to log-off.

Give Uber a clear deadline to respond and make up the shortfall. Keep a copy of your letter, your evidence and any reply.

Join ADCU or GMB so that you have backing, access to template claims and up-to-date tactical advice on group litigation and negotiation.

If Uber does not resolve the underpayment, start ACAS early conciliation within three months minus one day of the last underpayment and speak to a union or firms like Leigh Day or Bates Wells, who have run gig worker claims before.

Related tools GigKiln should build

Uber holiday pay checker that takes log-on hours, engaged hours and Uber's holiday pay figures and estimates the Aslam-based holiday pay, highlighting the gap.

Uber working-time calculator that helps drivers estimate average hourly pay including waiting time and tests it against minimum wage for 2025 to 26.

Template claim letter generator that outputs a personalised Working Time Regulations and Uber BV v Aslam claim to send to Uber and then to ACAS if needed.

ACAS deadline tracker for underpayment and holiday pay claims, tied to the date of the last underpayment.

Income loss simulator showing how different log-on patterns and waiting times affect holiday and minimum wage entitlements across the year.

Related guides

"How Uber should calculate your working time after Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5."

"Checking your Uber holiday pay in 2025 to 26 using your weekly statements."

"Minimum wage, waiting time and Uber's 2025 to 26 driver terms."

"Using unions and law firms to claim back holiday pay from Uber."

"What to do if Uber tells you to accept unfair new terms or be blocked."

Sources

Uber, "Frequently Asked Questions, Worker Protections", FAQ for UK drivers, including holiday pay at 12.07% of weekly earnings and "per-trip holiday entitlement", accessed 19 April 2026.

BBC News, "Uber 'willing to change' as drivers get minimum wage, holiday pay and pensions", 16 March 2021, accessed 19 April 2026.

Citti Magazine, "Uber UK drivers get minimum wage, holiday pay and pensions", 16 March 2021, accessed 19 April 2026.

Uber BV & Ors v Aslam & Ors [2021] UKSC 5 summaries and analyses, including LawCases and JibuDocs extracts, accessed 19 April 2026.

App Drivers & Couriers Union, "Statement on Uber response to Supreme Court ruling and new pay arrangements", accessed 19 April 2026.

IWGB, "Legal claim for compensation from Uber", accessed 19 April 2026.

Connaught Law, "Gig Economy Worker Rights UK 2026 | Legal Classification", including holiday pay at 12.07% and two year backdating example, accessed 19 April 2026.

GMB, "Uber Noticeboard", accessed 19 April 2026.

IWGB, "Statement on the partnership between GMB Union and UberEats riders", 31 July 2024, accessed 19 April 2026.

Reddit r/UberUK, "Uber London 2025, was it worth it?", 26 February 2026, accessed 19 April 2026.

Facebook Uber driver discussion, "How does holiday pay work with Uber, I seem to get £1.49 midweek", 7 April 2026, accessed 19 April 2026.