Online estate agencies face class action from former self employed workers
Former self-employed workers are to launch class action against online estate agencies such as Purplebricks and Yopa.
Contractors For Justice (C4J) has said it will commence proceedings on behalf of thousands of formerly self-employed local property experts, local agents and territory owners.
Workers have been disadvantaged by companies choosing to hire self-employed workers but directing them as actual employees would be on a day to day basis, C4J said.
C4J plans to progress a group litigation order (GLO), colloquially known as a class action.
The action is primarily focused on the non-payment of holiday pay which the legal firm claims self employed workers may be owed if it is proven they were employed for the purposes of the legal definition.
The action will also look to recover workplace that potentially should have been made by employers.
C4J said the quantum of just these two elements is 12.07% per cent of each year’s earnings for the former and up to eight per cent for the latter, plus interest. The firm said this could amount to tens of millions of pounds.
The firm stressed their action relates to business models that directed agents as if they were employed.
Agencies that just support self-employed agents – such as Keller Williams and Nested – are deemed to sit outside of any claim.
HMRC and legal precedent has stipulated that businesses cannot simply designate staff as self-employed and “operate those workers as employees in all but name,” to dodge employee benefits, Peter Fletcher, C4J spokesperson said.
“Our action against online estate agencies, that may have designated their workers as self-employed when in fact they may not have been, is being commenced in a similar vein to these other well-known outcomes and therefore we are very confident of our success in reclaiming in some cases many thousands of pounds for the individuals concerned.”
Purplebricks and Yopa have been contacted for comment.