Thousands of drivers working for ride-hailing and food delivery app Bolt have won legal battles to be classed as UK workers rather than self-employed.
The ruling means drivers are entitled to holiday pay and the minimum wage, which lawyers say could lead to compensation worth more than £200m.
Bolt said he was reviewing his options, including grounds for appeal.
It noted that the employment tribunal’s findings were limited to drivers who did not use multiple ride-hailing apps.
Around 10,000 current and former Bolt drivers have taken legal action against the Estonia-based company in a London employment tribunal.
They argued that they were regular workers under British law.
Bolt said it “always supports” drivers’ “choice” to “remain self-employed as independent contractors”.
But the tribunal found that “the vast majority of power lies in Bolt’s hands”.
“There was nothing in this relationship that required or even suggested that the driver had agency,” the report said.
The court added that “the alleged contract between Bolt’s driver and passenger was a fiction devised by Bolt – and specifically his lawyers – to defeat the argument that there was an employer/worker relationship between Bolt and the driver” .
