The highest Court in New Zealand, the Supreme Court, threw out Uber's appeal confirming Uber has employees - not contractors.
Background
In 2021, four drivers with the help of E Tu and First Unions took Uber to the Employment Court arguing the drivers were actually not contractors but employees all along, despite having signed an agreement saying they are independent contractors.
The Employment Court agreed that due to the level of control Uber has when the drivers are logged into the Uber app and engaged as drivers, the relationship is that of an employee. Regardless of the fact the drivers can accept or reject any job, work when they like for as long as they like, often work for multiple ride-share providers and can opt to take the best paying fee, having no duty of fidelity towards Uber, signed a contractor agreement and undertake their own tax returns including taking advantage of all the depreciation and expenses. The level of control Uber exercises during the period of engagement is the point.
Uber appealed to the Court of Appeal. In 2024 the Court of Appeal agreed with the Employment Court and upheld the position that the four drivers were employees.
Last month, November 2025, another appeal from Uber to the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal failed to change the outcome. Although the decision is strictly only in relation to the claims of the four drivers, this now clearly defines the 11,000 approx Uber drivers across NZ as employees of Uber.
What's next
With the four drivers having successfully proved they are employees, they are now entitled to all minimum standards for the duration of employment. Uber will have to make good on any shortfall such as leave entitlements including holiday pay and ensuring minimum wage has been paid for all hours worked and the Unions have stated they will be seeking compensation for the drivers. Needless to say the Unions will now also be looking to make claims for as many of the other 11,000 Uber drivers willing to make a claim. It's fair to say if Uber faces 11,000 claims to settle it will certainly change the face of the operation as we know it, and the other ride-share operations like DiDi, Bolt, Ola etc should be worried.
The Government has already included wording in the new Employment Relations Amendment Bill which could limit the extent of such claims. This argument about employees vs contractors is not a new one, and has always been challenged on a case-by-case basis. Under the proposed Act there is a bright-line
"Gateway" test to define a worker's status which once undertaken (and agreed) cannot be challenged. The Unions have been very quick to suggest the Government abandon this legislation as they claim it would be exploitative against legitimate employees.