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Commercial Awareness Update- December 2018
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<blockquote data-quote="Bugsy Malone" data-source="post: 6044" data-attributes="member: 201"><p><strong>3. The Deliveroo Judgement on Labour Rights of Riders (contributed by Sara Moon)</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>The Story:</strong></p><p></p><p>With the rise of digital platforms and application-based companies, the “gig” economy is flourishing. According to the definition provided by Google, the gig economy is “a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs”. Uber and Deliveroo are two well-known examples of companies that are part of the gig economy.</p><p></p><p>Gig economy sounds attractive in that it brings great flexibility to employment; by having a greater choice on when and where to work, a worker can choose a job that best fits around his or her lifestyle. In the company’s point of view, the gig arrangement is cost-effective especially if they are constrained by tight budgets. A company can hire highly skilled labour on a project basis, save costs of keeping workers in an office, and only hire workers when they are actually needed.</p><p></p><p>However, one of the greatest downsides of being a gig worker is that one may not be able to enjoy workplace protection such as holiday and sick pay. There is a great amount of uncertainty surrounding the question of whether a gig worker is in an employment relationship, and a flood of cases are emerging, demanding the courts to bring more certainty. Whether or not one is employed is an important issue because an employment relationship provides a worker various labour rights such as the right to collective bargaining, holiday pay and sick pay, whistleblower protection, and many more.</p><p></p><p>Both Uber and Deliveroo have been involved in lawsuits on the issue and in the case of Deliveroo, the High Court confirmed last week a previous judgement by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) that Deliveroo riders are not employed but ‘self-employed’. The claim against Deliveroo was brought on the issue of the right to collective bargaining of riders, so the judgment meant that the riders are not entitled to collective bargaining. The judgment was on the basis of the riders’ right to substitution, which allowed them to freely pass on their job to a substitute. This means that they are not providing any ‘personal service’, which is an essential element of an employment relationship.</p><p></p><p>The decision of the court in the recent Deliveroo case contrasts with the Uber case decided last year. There, it was held that Uber drivers are workers, not self-employed, and thus subject to minimum-wage rights. This was on the basis that drivers had to provide a personal service and that they were generally obliged to accept any work offered once logged into the app.</p><p></p><p><strong>Impact on businesses and law firms:</strong></p><p></p><p>Court decisions on Uber and Deliveroo have important implications for any companies adopting the gig economy model. They provide a guidance in determining whether or not a company’s relationship with the person hired is one of employment. If it is one of employment, then the company must ensure that labour rights entailed by the employment relationship are not breached.</p><p></p><p>Considering the contrasting judgments of courts on the question of the employment relationship in the Uber and the Deliveroo case, companies would have to review carefully their contracts with workers in order to see if it can be established that there exists an employment relationship. This will particularly involve looking for any clauses allowing substitution of labour. For lawyers, they would have to keep an eye on further court decisions on gig economy cases in order to grasp how the law regulates employments in the gig economy.</p><p></p><p><strong>4. UK real estate and Brexit (contributed by Flora Raine)</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>The story: </strong></p><p></p><p>As real estate practice has always tended to follow the market and will continue to do so, it is not surprising that the UK property market has been impacted by Brexit. In terms of residential property, the BBC announced on Friday that annual growth in UK house prices has slowed to its lowest rate for six years. This slow down is mainly from the South and East of England, with the North, the Midlands and the South-West seeing more constant growth. UK property investment funds such as <em>Threadneedle</em>, have warned Central London is the most volatile of the UK property markets, pointing to high valuations, oversupply and the continued uncertainty surrounding Brexit.</p><p></p><p><strong>Impact on businesses and law firms:</strong></p><p></p><p>Businesses have been deciding whether or not to relocate offices to Europe following Brexit. According to EY Financial Services’ October Brexit tracker, 35% of the 222 UK financial services firms tracked have said they are considering or have confirmed they are relocating operations and/or staff to Europe. In contrast others such as Goldman Sachs have demonstrated their commitment to the UK despite Brexit fears. In August Goldman entered a deal worth £1.2bn, taking on a 25-year lease of their London headquarters.</p><p></p><p>Property investment funds are holding historically high cash levels as there is uncertainty about properties worth and some wait to take advantage of possible market mispricing. This means there are less players in the market at present. For example, house-builders in the FTSE 100 have fallen in Monday’s trading as the planned vote on the Brexit deal has caused further uncertainty in the markets.</p><p></p><p>However, where law firms may have missed out on business moving away from the UK or awaiting the Brexit outcome, the UK property market, especially London, was driven forward by investment from abroad. Overseas buyers took advantage of favourable exchange rates, snapping up luxury apartments and townhouses as investments guaranteed to make a profit. In particular, Asian institutional investment in London real estate picked up markedly since the UK’s vote to leave the EU. Buyers found more attractive yields in the UK than in their home markets, on top of which the weakened pound made properties cheaper. For example, <em>Mirae Asset Daewoo</em>, a Korean investment firm, has been involved in such deals as buying Cannon Bridge House for almost £250m.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bugsy Malone, post: 6044, member: 201"] [B]3. The Deliveroo Judgement on Labour Rights of Riders (contributed by Sara Moon)[/B] [B]The Story:[/B] With the rise of digital platforms and application-based companies, the “gig” economy is flourishing. According to the definition provided by Google, the gig economy is “a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs”. Uber and Deliveroo are two well-known examples of companies that are part of the gig economy. Gig economy sounds attractive in that it brings great flexibility to employment; by having a greater choice on when and where to work, a worker can choose a job that best fits around his or her lifestyle. In the company’s point of view, the gig arrangement is cost-effective especially if they are constrained by tight budgets. A company can hire highly skilled labour on a project basis, save costs of keeping workers in an office, and only hire workers when they are actually needed. However, one of the greatest downsides of being a gig worker is that one may not be able to enjoy workplace protection such as holiday and sick pay. There is a great amount of uncertainty surrounding the question of whether a gig worker is in an employment relationship, and a flood of cases are emerging, demanding the courts to bring more certainty. Whether or not one is employed is an important issue because an employment relationship provides a worker various labour rights such as the right to collective bargaining, holiday pay and sick pay, whistleblower protection, and many more. Both Uber and Deliveroo have been involved in lawsuits on the issue and in the case of Deliveroo, the High Court confirmed last week a previous judgement by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) that Deliveroo riders are not employed but ‘self-employed’. The claim against Deliveroo was brought on the issue of the right to collective bargaining of riders, so the judgment meant that the riders are not entitled to collective bargaining. The judgment was on the basis of the riders’ right to substitution, which allowed them to freely pass on their job to a substitute. This means that they are not providing any ‘personal service’, which is an essential element of an employment relationship. The decision of the court in the recent Deliveroo case contrasts with the Uber case decided last year. There, it was held that Uber drivers are workers, not self-employed, and thus subject to minimum-wage rights. This was on the basis that drivers had to provide a personal service and that they were generally obliged to accept any work offered once logged into the app. [B]Impact on businesses and law firms:[/B] Court decisions on Uber and Deliveroo have important implications for any companies adopting the gig economy model. They provide a guidance in determining whether or not a company’s relationship with the person hired is one of employment. If it is one of employment, then the company must ensure that labour rights entailed by the employment relationship are not breached. Considering the contrasting judgments of courts on the question of the employment relationship in the Uber and the Deliveroo case, companies would have to review carefully their contracts with workers in order to see if it can be established that there exists an employment relationship. This will particularly involve looking for any clauses allowing substitution of labour. For lawyers, they would have to keep an eye on further court decisions on gig economy cases in order to grasp how the law regulates employments in the gig economy. [B]4. UK real estate and Brexit (contributed by Flora Raine)[/B] [B]The story: [/B] As real estate practice has always tended to follow the market and will continue to do so, it is not surprising that the UK property market has been impacted by Brexit. In terms of residential property, the BBC announced on Friday that annual growth in UK house prices has slowed to its lowest rate for six years. This slow down is mainly from the South and East of England, with the North, the Midlands and the South-West seeing more constant growth. UK property investment funds such as [I]Threadneedle[/I], have warned Central London is the most volatile of the UK property markets, pointing to high valuations, oversupply and the continued uncertainty surrounding Brexit. [B]Impact on businesses and law firms:[/B] Businesses have been deciding whether or not to relocate offices to Europe following Brexit. According to EY Financial Services’ October Brexit tracker, 35% of the 222 UK financial services firms tracked have said they are considering or have confirmed they are relocating operations and/or staff to Europe. In contrast others such as Goldman Sachs have demonstrated their commitment to the UK despite Brexit fears. In August Goldman entered a deal worth £1.2bn, taking on a 25-year lease of their London headquarters. Property investment funds are holding historically high cash levels as there is uncertainty about properties worth and some wait to take advantage of possible market mispricing. This means there are less players in the market at present. For example, house-builders in the FTSE 100 have fallen in Monday’s trading as the planned vote on the Brexit deal has caused further uncertainty in the markets. However, where law firms may have missed out on business moving away from the UK or awaiting the Brexit outcome, the UK property market, especially London, was driven forward by investment from abroad. Overseas buyers took advantage of favourable exchange rates, snapping up luxury apartments and townhouses as investments guaranteed to make a profit. In particular, Asian institutional investment in London real estate picked up markedly since the UK’s vote to leave the EU. Buyers found more attractive yields in the UK than in their home markets, on top of which the weakened pound made properties cheaper. For example, [I]Mirae Asset Daewoo[/I], a Korean investment firm, has been involved in such deals as buying Cannon Bridge House for almost £250m. [/QUOTE]
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