Employment tribunal claims against apps: step-by-step driver guide

Understanding your legal status before you start

Many gig apps class drivers and couriers as self-employed independent contractors. High-profile court cases have shown that this label does not always hold up in front of a judge. If an app sets your fares, controls how you work and penalises you for turning down work, you might actually be a worker rather than genuinely self-employed.

Workers have specific legal rights that self-employed contractors do not. These include paid annual leave, rest breaks, protection from discrimination and entitlement to the national minimum wage for working time. If you believe your app has denied you these rights, you can take them to an employment tribunal.

Gathering your evidence and calculating what you are owed

Before you contact anyone or fill out any forms, you need to collect proof of your working hours and earnings. Apps often hold all the data in their system, so you should request your driver records right away.

You can send a subject access request to get copies of your trip logs, earnings statements, rating history and internal notes. For more details on getting your data, read our guide on subject access requests and your data rights.

• Download every monthly settlement statement and invoice you can find.
• Save screenshots of your weekly online hours, active hours and completed trips.
• Keep a personal diary of the shifts you worked if app history is missing.
• List any specific dates where you requested holiday and were refused or not paid.

ACAS early conciliation as the mandatory first step

You cannot simply file a claim at an employment tribunal straight away. UK law says you must first contact ACAS, which stands for the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. This free service helps try to resolve disputes before they reach a formal court hearing.

1. Go to the ACAS website and fill out their early conciliation notification form.
2. Provide your details, the exact legal name of the app company and their registered office address.
3. An ACAS support officer will contact you and offer to speak with the app company to see if a settlement can be reached.
4. If the app refuses to talk or no agreement is reached, ACAS will issue an early conciliation certificate containing a unique reference number.

You must have this certificate number before you can submit your tribunal claim form. There are strict time limits for this stage, usually three months minus one day from the date the disputed incident or underpayment happened.

Submitting your ET1 claim form to the tribunal

Once you have your ACAS certificate, you can complete the online ET1 claim form on the government tribunals service. This is where you formally state your case against the app company.

You will need to explain what happened in plain language. State whether you are claiming for unpaid holiday pay, unlawful deductions from wages, or failure to pay the minimum wage. Include your ACAS certificate number, as the system will reject your application without it.

What happens after you file your claim

After you submit your ET1 form, the tribunal sends a copy to the app company. The app has a set number of weeks to submit an ET3 response form defending their position. They will usually use corporate lawyers to argue that you were an independent contractor and not a worker.

The tribunal will then send out directions, which are instructions for both sides to prepare for a hearing. You may need to exchange documents and write down witness statements. Many claims settle before reaching a final judge because companies sometimes prefer to pay out rather than face a public ruling that could change how they operate.