Sky News has learnt that the food delivery app has agreed to award\u200e 50 of its British couriers sums “in the low thousands of pounds” each to settle the claim before it was formally heard at an employment tribunal in London.<\/p>\n
<\/div><\/p>\nThe settlement includes no admission of liability, according to a source close to Deliveroo, meaning that it is not expected to change the self-employed status of the company’s army of riders.<\/p>\n
Brought by the law firm Leigh Day, the claim was one of a string of such cases which have brought into sharp focus the dividing lines between gig economy companies like Uber and their freelance workforces.<\/p>\n
One insider familiar with the settlement said it would have “no direct impact on Deliveroo’s fleet of moped drivers and cyclists nor the company’s business model of using self-employed riders to deliver food”.<\/p>\n
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It is, however, thought to be the first such case that Deliveroo has agreed to make payments in relation to, following a victory for the company in a similar claim last year.<\/p>\n
A source close to Deliveroo said the cost of the settlement was lower than the prospective legal costs to the company if the cases had run their course at the tribunal.<\/p>\n
“The company will continue to focus on providing the well-paid, flexible work that riders value,” the source said.<\/p>\n
“Courts have carefully considered Deliveroo’s model and concluded that riders working with the company are self-employed.”<\/p>\n
The long-term legal landscape for the treatment of gig economy workers remains unclear, with the Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that a long-standing\u00a0Pimlico Plumbers contractor was entitled to benefits<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0such as holiday pay.<\/p>\n