In Addison Lee Ltd v Lange and others, the EAT upheld an ET’s finding that three Addison Lee (AL) drivers were workers for the purposes of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. They were workers, and not independent contractors, because the drivers were obliged to log on to AL’s computerised system when ready to work and knew that once they logged on, they had to accept the jobs that AL’s system offered them. There was an overarching contract in place where the drivers were undertaking to perform driving services personally. In addition, all the time that the drivers were logged on to AL’s system, other than break times, was working time, because the drivers were at AL’s disposal even when not transporting a passenger.

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