End of the road for Uber appeals after top court rules drivers should be treated as employees

Monday, 17 November 2025

Uber says it is disappointed that the Supreme Court has ruled four Uber drivers were entitled to be treated as employees rather than contractors, a ruling which may open the door to thousands of claims.

Delivering the judgment in Wellington, Justice Forrest Miller said the court had unanimously dismissed Uber’s appeal, though it differed in its reasoning from the lower courts in some respects.

There has been speculation the landmark ruling may open the door for potentially tens of thousands of “gig economy” workers in other industries, including courier drivers and some tradespeople, to retrospectively claim benefits such as sick leave, holiday pay and the minimum wage.

BusinessNZ chief executive Katherine Rich said if the court’s ruling became the status quo, the gig economy could collapse.

“These types of businesses have become a part of our work and leisure. The conveniences we’ve come to enjoy could cease to be.”

E tū national secretary Rachel Mackintosh said its understanding was that 12,000 to 15,000 people who had worked for Uber could have claims.

The ruling could have much further-reaching implications for gig economy workers in other industries, though that was not as certain, she said.

The principle that had been established by the court was “when your relationship with the boss looks like this, that’s an employment relationship, so yes other people could have claims”.

Uber New Zealand general manager Emma Foley said in a statement they were disappointed by the court ruling, which she said “cast significant doubt on contracting arrangements across New Zealand”.

“Independent contracting is a cornerstone of not just Uber but also our broader economy — from tradespeople and creatives to IT consultants and health professionals — and hundreds of thousands of Kiwis value the freedom and control it provides,” she said.

“While the implications of this decision could be far reaching, for now this decision relates to only four drivers and delivery partners, and Uber and Uber Eats will continue to operate as normal,” she said.

The Government has proposed a law change that is designed to clarify how the distinction between employees and contractors will be determined in future.

The Employment Relations Amendment Bill would will tilt the balance back in favour of businesses rather than workers.

But that legislation — which is still awaiting its report-back from a select committee and is not currently scheduled to be resubmitted to Parliament for its second reading until next year — has not been worded to apply retrospectively, meaning it would not cancel out workers’ past rights as it is currently framed.

Foley said the Supreme Court ruling “underscored the urgency of the Government’s proposed law reforms”, while the Workers First Union called instead for the Government to stop work on them.

Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden said she respected the court ruling which she said highlighted a “grey area in employment and contract law” that her reform aimed to address.

She noted the bill was still before the select committee, which is due to provide its recommendations on the proposed changes on Christmas Eve.

The Employment Court sent a shock wave through the employment market in 2022 when it originally sided with unions and ruled the four Uber drivers were entitled to employee benefits. That decision was upheld in the Court of Appeal the following year, before Uber’s appeal to the Supreme Court.

Judges’ remarks during the Supreme Court’s hearing in July provided a strong indication they believed the lower courts had arrived at the right outcome.

The Court of Appeal had differed in its rationale from that of the Employment Court, and two of the five Supreme Court judges ruled the Court of Appeal had erred by not giving any weight to the intentions of Uber and its drivers when entering into their agreements.

But those judges nevertheless concluded that the drivers could not have been said to have been in business on their own account, which was the key legal test.

It was significant that there was no ability for the drivers to build their business by virtue of contact with Uber customers, they said. “This means the customers are Uber’s customers and not those of the driver.”

Workers First Union said drivers would be celebrating what it, like E tū, described as a historic judgment.

Deputy secretary Anita Rosentreter said she hoped Kiwis would appreciate the magnitude and significance of what the four drivers had achieved “on behalf of every worker in the country who has been subject to this method of exploitation by employers like Uber”.

Nureddin Abdurahman, one of the four drivers and now a Wellington City councillor, said the ruling was a relief.

“This is justice served after a long fight,” he said. “It makes me frustrated and angry that the Government could still ignore this judgment and continue stabbing us in the back by making laws to benefit multinationals like Uber.”