Uber says it will give its 70,000 UK drivers a guaranteed minimum wage, holiday pay and pensions.
The ride-hailing app giant said drivers would earn at least the UK’s National Living Wage, paid to the over-25s, of £8.72 an hour.
It comes one month after the US firm lost a legal battle in the UK, begun in 2016, over drivers’ status.
Uber told that it did not expect the change in drivers’ conditions to mean higher fares.
Union leaders and employment experts said Uber’s move would have far reaching consequences for the gig economy. Bates Wells lawyer Rachel Mathieson, who represented Uber drivers fighting for worker rights, called it “a very significant milestone”.
In last month’s Supreme Court hearing, Uber had argued it was a third-party booking agent, and its drivers were self employed.
But the court ruled its drivers were workers, a category that means they are entitled to minimum legal, holiday and pension rights.
The company is being challenged by its drivers in multiple countries over whether they should be classed as workers or self-employed.
