Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5: deep dive

Summary

Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5 says Uber drivers in the UK are workers (with rights) for Uber, not just "self-employed contractors", from the time they are logged into the app in their area and willing to take trips.

That means from 2025-26 you should treat your working time as all the time you are logged in, in-territory and available, and you should be getting national minimum wage for that working time, holiday pay on top, and access to a pension scheme, while still being self-employed for tax.

The ruling does not automatically apply to Deliveroo (which has won in court on self-employed status) and it has not yet been clearly applied to Amazon Flex, so TikTok and forums that say "this case covers all gig apps" are wrong.

Key facts (UK 2025-26)

• The Uber case is Uber BV and others v Aslam and others [2021] UKSC 5, a UK Supreme Court ruling on 19 February 2021 about whether Uber drivers are workers or self-employed under UK employment law.
• The Supreme Court backed the original Employment Tribunal and held Uber drivers are "workers" (a status between employee and self-employed) for Uber London Ltd, not independent businesses dealing with passengers directly.
• The Court's five main reasons: Uber sets fares, Uber sets contract terms, Uber penalises drivers for rejecting too many jobs, Uber controls service quality through ratings, and Uber stops drivers building their own customer base.
• The Court said drivers are "working" whenever they have the Uber app switched on, are in their licensed territory, and are ready and willing to accept trips, not just while a passenger is in the car.
• For 2025-26, this supports drivers claiming national minimum wage (NMW) for working time, paid holiday (at least 5.6 weeks a year pro-rated) and access to pension auto-enrolment, on top of what Uber actually pays.
• Uber responded from March 2021 onwards by saying it would pay at least the NMW for "engaged time", provide holiday pay at a percentage of earnings, and set up a pension scheme with employer contributions, though there is still dispute about waiting time and some details.
• In Independent Workers Union of Great Britain v Central Arbitration Committee [2023] UKSC 43, the Supreme Court held Deliveroo riders were not workers for union recognition purposes, mainly because they had a genuine right of substitution (get someone else to do the job).
• As of the 2025-26 tax year, Uber drivers are still self-employed for tax, so they must register with HMRC, file Self Assessment, and pay income tax and National Insurance on their profits even though they are "workers" for employment rights.

Legislation, case law, regulation

• Uber BV and others v Aslam and others [2021] UKSC 5: Supreme Court confirms Uber drivers are "workers" for Uber London and defines working time as any period when the driver has the app on, in-territory, and is willing to take trips.
• Employment Rights Act 1996: defines "worker" and gives rights like protection from unlawful deductions and rights around working time and holiday for workers.
• National Minimum Wage Act 1998: sets the legal minimum wage; by finding Uber drivers are workers, the Supreme Court confirms they are entitled to NMW for their working time.
• Working Time Regulations 1998: give workers rights to paid annual leave (holiday pay), which is why the ruling means Uber must give holiday pay to its drivers.
• Independent Workers Union of Great Britain v Central Arbitration Committee and another [2023] UKSC 43: Supreme Court agrees Deliveroo riders are not workers for union recognition because they have a genuine right of substitution (they do not have to do the work personally).
• Pensions Acts 2008 and 2011, and Auto-Enrolment Regulations: set up automatic enrolment into workplace pensions for eligible workers; after the Uber ruling, Uber set up a pension scheme and auto-enrolled eligible UK drivers.

How it actually works

1. What the Uber case was about

Drivers like Mr Aslam argued that in reality Uber was their employer (or at least that they were "workers"), so they should get minimum wage, holiday pay and other worker rights. Uber argued drivers were fully self-employed, running their own mini-businesses, and that Uber was just a tech platform connecting them to passengers.

The Employment Tribunal decided the drivers were workers, and every appeal up the chain (Employment Appeal Tribunal, Court of Appeal and finally the Supreme Court) left that conclusion in place. Uber threw a lot of money and lawyers at this and still lost in 2021.

2. The five key reasons Uber drivers are "workers"

The Supreme Court looked at what actually happens on the ground, not just what the contract says.

Uber sets the fare. Uber sets the passenger fare and the driver's cut; drivers cannot negotiate their own price per job. That means Uber, not the driver, controls how much the service is worth.

Uber sets the contract terms. All the terms are dictated by Uber in standard form contracts; drivers have no real power to change them. The Court said this is not like two businesses negotiating; it is a boss telling a worker the rules.

Drivers can be penalised for rejecting rides. The app monitors acceptance and cancellation rates; if a driver rejects or cancels too often, they can be logged off or lose access to the app. The Supreme Court talked about an "irreducible minimum obligation" during the periods drivers are expected to accept trips.

Uber rates and tightly controls drivers. The passenger rating system is effectively a performance management tool. Uber uses ratings to warn, discipline and remove drivers. That is classic employer-style control, not a neutral booking system.

Uber restricts communication with passengers. Uber stops drivers swapping contact details with riders and bans them from building their own customer base outside the Uber app. If drivers were genuinely running their own business, Uber would not need to block them from getting repeat business.

Put together, the Court said this looks like Uber running a transport business with drivers working for Uber, not lots of drivers each running their own transport companies using Uber's app.

3. What "working time" means after the ruling

The Supreme Court backed the Tribunal's view that Uber drivers are working any time they:

• have the Uber app switched on
• are in the territory they are licensed for, and
• are ready and willing to accept trips.

Uber argued working time should only be from pickup to drop-off. The Court rejected that. It said drivers are under Uber's control when they are waiting for a job, and that time counts towards minimum wage and holiday rights.

4. Practical impact for 2025-26: pay, holiday, pension

Because drivers are workers, not purely self-employed contractors, they are entitled to at least:

• National Minimum Wage (or National Living Wage) for working time.
• Paid annual leave, 5.6 weeks a year pro-rated, often delivered by a holiday pay top-up on each payout.
• Access to pension auto-enrolment, an employer pension scheme with contributions from Uber for eligible drivers.

Uber's response from 2021 onwards was to announce that all eligible UK drivers would:

• be paid at least the National Living Wage for engaged time (Uber's term), not necessarily for every second logged in
• get paid holiday, often around 12.07% of earnings as a holiday pay accrual figure (this is the usual percentage for 5.6 weeks out of 52), and
• be automatically enrolled into a pension scheme once they meet the earnings and age thresholds, with Uber and the driver both paying in.

Commentators have pointed out that Uber's definition of "engaged time" (often from job accept to drop-off) can still be narrower than the Supreme Court's concept of working time (logged in, in territory, willing to accept). That gap is where some drivers feel Uber continues to underpay for waiting time in 2025-26.

5. What did not change

Even after the 2021 ruling and the changes to pay and benefits, for 2025-26:

• Drivers are still self-employed for tax, so you still have to register with HMRC, file Self Assessment and pay income tax and National Insurance on your profits.
• You still supply your own vehicle, insurance, fuel, maintenance and phone. Uber has not suddenly become responsible for those costs.
• You still choose when to log in and log out, so you control your schedule in a way most employees do not (though the rating and acceptance-rate system still puts pressure on how you work when you are online).

For tax, HMRC will still expect you to treat your Uber income as self-employed trading income, claim expenses, and respect the usual £1,000 trading allowance and 2025-26 thresholds.

6. Deliveroo and Amazon Flex: does the Uber ruling apply?

Deliveroo: no. Deliveroo has so far successfully argued that riders are self-employed, not workers, mainly because of a genuine right to send a substitute rider in their place. In IWGB v CAC and others [2023] UKSC 43, the Supreme Court left in place findings that Deliveroo riders are not workers for collective bargaining rights because they do not have to do the work personally. That means the Uber ruling is persuasive but does not automatically flip Deliveroo riders into worker status in 2025-26.

Amazon Flex: unclear. There has not yet been a Supreme Court ruling like Uber BV v Aslam specifically on Amazon Flex drivers' status. Some of the control factors look similar (app control, ratings, route control), but Amazon Flex contracts and substitution or multi-apping behaviours may differ. A future case could go either way; for now, most Amazon Flex drivers are treated as self-employed in practice.

Worked example

Take a full-time Uber driver in London in 2025-26 who:

• is logged into the app in their licensed area and willing to take trips for 45 hours in a week
• spends around 30 hours actually on jobs (passenger in the car) and 15 hours waiting for jobs
• grosses £900 that week from Uber before expenses and before Uber's worker benefits uplifts.

1. Working time vs engaged time

Under the Supreme Court's working time test, all 45 hours logged in, in territory and willing to accept jobs are working time. If Uber only counts from accept to drop-off as "engaged time", it might only guarantee NMW for 30 hours, not the full 45. That is why there is still tension between what the Court said and what Uber actually pays in practice.

2. Minimum wage guarantee (2025-26)

Assume (for illustration) that the relevant National Living Wage rate in 2025-26 is around £11 per hour for over-23s (exact rate from GOV.UK for 2025-26).

If Uber only tops up to NMW for 30 engaged hours, the guaranteed minimum would be 30 x £11 = £330. The driver actually took £900, so in this week they are well above minimum wage either way.

The real fight comes in slow weeks. Suppose a quiet week where the same driver logs in for 35 working hours, is engaged for 20 hours, and earns £200.

• On the Supreme Court's working-time approach, you would compare £200 / 35 = about £5.71 an hour to the NMW and see a large shortfall.
• On Uber's engaged-time approach, you compare £200 / 20 = £10 an hour; if NMW is £11, Uber might top that up a bit for "engaged time" but still leave waiting hours effectively unpaid.

3. Holiday pay

Typical worker holiday pay is about 12.07% of earnings (5.6 weeks' holiday out of 46.4 working weeks), and Uber has used a similar percentage model in the UK since 2021.

On £900 of gross earnings, holiday pay accrual would be about £900 x 12.07% = about £108.63 added either as a separate line or as an amount you can claim when you take time off.

Over a year where this driver averages £900 a week for 48 weeks, gross earnings would be £43,200 and holiday pay accrual at 12.07% would be about £5,212, on top of fares and incentives.

4. Pension auto-enrolment (2025-26)

If the driver meets age and earnings triggers, Uber must auto-enrol them into its NOW: Pensions scheme or similar and pay employer contributions.

Uber's own FAQs explain that contributions are based on "qualifying earnings", defined as rider fares minus Uber's service fee plus incentives, holiday pay and any NMW top-up, within weekly bands like £120 to £967 a week in 2025-26.

So our driver on £900 a week qualifies; they will see "worker pension contributions" deducted on statements and Uber will contribute as well. Because they are still self-employed for tax, they may have to claim tax relief on their contributions through Self Assessment.

What Reddit, TikTok and forums get wrong

1. "Uber BV v Aslam means all gig workers now get minimum wage and holiday pay." Seen on TikTok explainers and Reddit threads in r/antiwork and r/legaladviceuk. Wrong. The ruling is specific to Uber drivers on the facts of that case; Deliveroo riders, Amazon Flex drivers and others are not automatically covered. The Deliveroo case in IWGB v CAC and others [2023] UKSC 43 went the other way; riders there are still treated as self-employed for worker-status purposes.

2. "Since the Supreme Court ruling, Uber is responsible for paying your tax and NI." Often repeated in Facebook driver groups and some YouTube videos. Wrong. Uber drivers are still self-employed for tax; you must register with HMRC, complete Self Assessment and pay income tax and self-employed National Insurance on profits in 2025-26. The ruling is about employment rights, not tax classification under ITEPA 2003 and trading income rules.

3. "Working time only counts while a passenger is in the car, so there's no point arguing about waiting time." Seen in some Uber driver forums where people confuse company policy with the law. Wrong. The Supreme Court clearly said working time for Uber drivers includes any period when the app is on, in territory, and the driver is ready and willing to accept trips, not just passenger-in-car time. If Uber only tops up to NMW based on "engaged time", that may still underpay waiting hours compared with the legal test.

4. "Deliveroo will have to follow the Uber ruling soon so you'll get minimum wage and paid holiday automatically." Common wishful thinking in Deliveroo subreddits and TikTok rider chats. Wrong as at 2025-26. The Supreme Court in the Deliveroo union case confirmed riders there were not workers because of a genuine right of substitution, which is a key legal difference. That might change with new facts or new contracts, but no such ruling exists yet.

5. "Once Uber auto-enrols you in a pension, HMRC will treat you as an employee and you can forget about Self Assessment." Seen in some side-hustle and FIRE (financial independence) Reddit threads. Wrong. Auto-enrolment into a pension comes from worker status for employment law, not from tax law; Uber's own FAQs say drivers deemed self-employed for tax must still claim tax relief through their Self Assessment return.

Action steps for the reader

1. If you drive for Uber, learn the working time test: any time the app is on, you are in your licensed area, and you are ready to take trips counts.
2. Check your weekly and yearly Uber statements to see what you actually receive as holiday pay accrual, NMW top-up and pension contributions in 2025-26.
3. Keep a log for a few weeks of total hours logged in vs hours actually on jobs, and what you earned each week; this tells you if your effective hourly rate for working time is above or below minimum wage.
4. Register with HMRC for Self Assessment if your total self-employed income (Uber and any other gigs) is over £1,000 in 2025-26, and keep proper records of income and expenses.
5. If your actual pay for working time is below minimum wage, speak to a union such as ADCU, IWGB or GMB, or to specialist firms like Leigh Day, Bates Wells or Farore Law, who have experience with gig worker claims.
6. If you also ride for Deliveroo, Just Eat or Amazon Flex, do not assume the Uber ruling covers those jobs; treat them as separate for rights and for tax and stay alert for new court cases.
7. Read the actual case summary of Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5 so you know what the Court said, not just what people on TikTok say it said.

Related tools GigKiln should build

• Uber working-time vs engaged-time tracker: driver enters hours logged in, hours on trips and total pay; tool shows real hourly rate vs NMW for 2025-26.
• Uber benefits explainer: pulls example weekly statement numbers and labels holiday pay, NMW top-up and pension contributions in plain English.
• Rights heat-map: simple comparison grid for Uber, Deliveroo, Amazon Flex, Just Eat, Stuart and Gophr showing worker status, holiday, NMW and pension.
• Evidence pack generator for holiday/NMW underpayment: prompts driver to record dates, hours, pay and screenshots in a format a union or solicitor like Leigh Day can use.
• Tax vs worker-status checker: shows that being a worker for Uber does not stop you being self-employed for HMRC and what that means in 2025-26.

Related guides

• "National minimum wage and holiday pay for Uber drivers: what you should see on your 2025-26 statements"
• "Why Deliveroo riders did not get the Uber ruling: IWGB v CAC [2023] UKSC 43 in plain English"
• "Amazon Flex and worker status: what we know and what we do not (yet)"
• "Self-employed tax for Uber, Deliveroo and Amazon Flex in 2025-26"
• "How to read your Uber pay statement: fares, boosts, surge, holiday pay, NMW top-up, pension"
• "How to record waiting time and working time as an app driver"

Sources

Primary

• UK Supreme Court, Uber BV and others (Appellants) v Aslam and others (Respondents), case summary and case details, accessed 18 April 2026: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2019-0029
• Lawcases.net (case text), Uber BV & Ors v Aslam & Ors UKSC 5, accessed 18 April 2026.
• Augustine Clement, Uber BV and others v Aslam and others [2021] UKSC 5, judgment note, accessed 18 April 2026.
• UK Supreme Court, Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (Appellant) v Central Arbitration Committee and another [2023] UKSC 43, accessed 18 April 2026.
• Taylor Wessing, Court of Appeal rules Deliveroo riders are self-employed, accessed 18 April 2026.
• People Management, Deliveroo drivers are not employees, Supreme Court rules, accessed 18 April 2026.
• Uber, Worker Pension Scheme FAQs, accessed 18 April 2026.
• H W Fisher, Uber drivers now classed as workers, so what does this mean for their pension?, accessed 18 April 2026.
• GOV.UK / HMRC, Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances, accessed 18 April 2026.
• GOV.UK / HMRC, Side hustlers urged to get tax returns sorted now, accessed 18 April 2026.
• LITRG, Digital platform reporting rules, accessed 18 April 2026.

Secondary

• Wikipedia, Uber BV v Aslam, accessed 18 April 2026.
• Lawprof.co, Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5, accessed 18 April 2026.
• Pensions Age, Supreme Court Uber ruling a step towards 'opening the doors' to AE for gig workers, accessed 18 April 2026.
• YouTube / news reports, Uber to pay UK drivers minimum wage, holiday pay and be enrolled in a pension scheme, accessed 18 April 2026.