The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The future of employment: purposive interpretation and the role of contract after Uber

The future of employment: purposive interpretation and the role of contract after Uber
The future of employment: purposive interpretation and the role of contract after Uber

A person's entitlement to workplace rights and protections under English law is conditional on their relationship falling within the legal category of employment, by virtue of them having the requisite status. The employment status of individuals performing on-demand work via digital platforms is particularly contentious and has been a focal point for debate in recent years. The Supreme Court decision in Uber BV v Aslam represents a ground-breaking judgment on this issue, which has radical implications for the correct approach to determining employment status more generally. It is argued here that, while leaving some important questions unanswered, the purposive and relational approach to employment status developed by the Supreme Court in Uber BV v Aslam is to be welcomed, and that this new approach has far-reaching consequences for the future of the legal category of employment.

0026-7961
787-800
Atkinson, Joe
344fb3a5-85d2-489a-86ef-d657bcb857bc
Dhorajiwala, Hitesh
5db23cc0-ee7e-465b-af00-cba03c2738e8
Atkinson, Joe
344fb3a5-85d2-489a-86ef-d657bcb857bc
Dhorajiwala, Hitesh
5db23cc0-ee7e-465b-af00-cba03c2738e8

Atkinson, Joe and Dhorajiwala, Hitesh (2022) The future of employment: purposive interpretation and the role of contract after Uber. Modern Law Review, 85 (3), 787-800. (doi:10.1111/1468-2230.12693).

Record type: Article

Abstract

A person's entitlement to workplace rights and protections under English law is conditional on their relationship falling within the legal category of employment, by virtue of them having the requisite status. The employment status of individuals performing on-demand work via digital platforms is particularly contentious and has been a focal point for debate in recent years. The Supreme Court decision in Uber BV v Aslam represents a ground-breaking judgment on this issue, which has radical implications for the correct approach to determining employment status more generally. It is argued here that, while leaving some important questions unanswered, the purposive and relational approach to employment status developed by the Supreme Court in Uber BV v Aslam is to be welcomed, and that this new approach has far-reaching consequences for the future of the legal category of employment.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 12 August 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 21 September 2021
Published date: May 2022

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 483762
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/483762
ISSN: 0026-7961
PURE UUID: 7668b3c5-5572-4759-bbbc-92ddfe6e493b
ORCID for Joe Atkinson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5207-2231

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 04 Nov 2023 18:54
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:14

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Joe Atkinson ORCID iD
Author: Hitesh Dhorajiwala

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×