At a 5 day preliminary hearing, the Tribunal found that a courier on CitySprint’s standard Courier Tender Agreement was a self-employed contractor. The decision affects 2500 couriers nationwide.
In Woolcock v. CitySprint (UK) Limited, Birmingham Employment Tribunal Judge Gidney considered the test of worker under s. 230 Employment Rights Act 1996 and of employee s. 83 Equality Act 2010.
In finding for CitySprint, the Tribunal was moved by the clarity of language in the Courier Tender Agreement. Of particular note was a separate declaration which was required to be signed by the courier, which contained several tick-boxes to confirm that they understood and accepted self-employment status [47&48].
Hearing evidence from several managers and operatives at CitySprint, the Tribunal found that the terms of the Courier Tender Agreement fairly reflected the reality of the working relationship [50]. CitySprint had, it found, very little control of its self-employed couriers who were free to send substitutes or to decline work. In distinction to the position in Uber BV v. Aslam [2021] UKSC 5, CitySprint couriers were free to, and often did, negotiate for a higher payment for the job.
Lucy Bone was instructed by Nick Davies and Cat Turpin of Redpoint Law.
A copy of the judgment will be uploaded once published.
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