Bolt has launched a scheme that will guarantee its drivers are paid the national living wage in the UK despite remaining independent contractors.
Should a driver’s earnings, excluding tips, come in lower than the national living wage of £11.44 an hour, they will be topped up by Bolt.
In a statement, the ride-hailing platform also said its drivers would receive holiday pay, totalling around 12 per cent of their earnings every week.
The practice of employing drivers as independent contractors has proved highly controversial in recent years and is strongly opposed by unions. The GMB Union, one of the UK’s largest unions, launched a legal challenge against Bolt over the issue in 2022.
Andy Prendergast, GMB National Secretary, described Bolt’s new scheme as a “cynical ploy.”
“Bolt is currently fighting a legal case launched by GMB on behalf of drivers over their status as workers which would guarantee them the minimum wage and holiday pay. It has fought these claims for years,” he said.
“To now offer these benefits within weeks of the tribunal is a cynical ploy. It’s too little, too late.”
In 2021, a landmark Supreme Court ruling forced Bolt’s rival Uber to treat its drivers as workers rather than self-employed, thereby entitling them to minimum wage and holiday pay.
But in a separate ruling last Thursday, California’s Supreme Court decided app-based ride-hailing and delivery services run by firms like San Fran-based Lyft and Uber could continue treating them as self-employed.
Bolt, which employs over 100,000 drivers in the UK, argues they value the greater flexibility and independence.
It said its scheme “aims to boost driver earnings and provide them with additional financial security, whilst retaining their preferred flexibility as independent entrepreneurs.”
The firm’s smaller rival, Freenow, currently gives its drivers the option to choose their employment status.