Bolt drivers win right to holiday and minimum wage

The ruling is the latest on the “gig-economy”, which is characterised by flexible but unpredictable work patterns.

Leigh Day, the law firm representing the claimants, said the judgment confirmed “gig economy operators cannot continue to falsely classify their workers as independent contractors… to avoid providing the rights those workers are properly entitled to”.

It called on Bolt to compensate its clients “without further delay”.

Leigh Day said the ruling “affects all of the 100,000-plus drivers who take on work through the Bolt private hire hailing app”.

But Bolt said the Employee Tribunal’s findings were limited to drivers who are not “multi-apping”.

The company said nine in 10 Bolt drivers use multiple apps to connect to customers.

The legal case follows a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2021 that Uber drivers were not self-employed, but were workers entitled to rights including holiday pay, a guaranteed minimum wage and breaks.