Legal challenge over self employment to hit delivery giant Hermes

Morley-based delivery service giant Hermes is facing legal action by workers that believe they are wrongly classified as self-employed.

MP Frank Field, chairman of the House of Commons work and pensions committee which investigated Philip Green and his actions in relation to the BHS collapse, announced that the GMB union would be orchestrating legal action on behalf of Hermes workers, according to The Guardian.

The newspaper had previously led an investigation into the Leeds-based courier which found that it was paying workers below the national living wage due to their self-employed status.

HMRC announced in September 2016 that it would be investigating allegations of low pay at the delivery giant, following a report from Field. At the time Hermes said the report “does not reflect” the way it operates.

It said a similar claim was brought against taxi service app Uber and a judge ruled they should be classified as employees with the right to sick and holiday pay as well as the national living wage.

Field said: “The aim of this tribunal will not only be to gain justice for drivers working with Hermes, but also to set off a domino effect in the wider gig economy, so that justice can likewise be gained for the many tens of thousands of people working in that industry.”

Hermes denied any knowledge of a claim and a spokeswoman told the newspaper: “We will contest any challenge to our self-employed courier model on the same grounds that we have successfully resolved other claims.”

The action comes following several investigations into working practices at the delivery and warehousing operations of Asos in Barnsley and Sports Direct at Shirebrook in Derbyshire.