Gig workers legal challenge to Covid 19 support from government
It has been a tough time for gig workers and those who started in self employment after April 19.
In a recent legal case, Ahmed Adiatu & Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) v HMRC, an Uber driver and his union made an unsuccessful claim for a judicial review of the government’s COVID-19 support measures for lower-paid workers.
Some of their key points were:
1. As a worker, an Uber driver has some similar rights to employees but as they are not subject to PAYE and they are unable to be paid under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (‘JRS’).
2. The Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is not available to workers who have moved from employment to self-employment since April 2019.
The court said, ‘Standing back, there was an almost infinite range of measures that the government might have introduced to cope with the pandemic. The aims of the measures under challenge were legitimate since they were rational and were all directed towards providing assistance to employers and employees in response to the crisis, and the means adopted were appropriate to achieve the aims that were selected.”
The claimants’ challenges were all rejected.
Fingers crossed things get back to normal soon so that people can get back to making a living.
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