Thousands of Bolt drivers won their legal claim to be recognized as workers, gaining rights to paid holidays and a minimum wage.

Following the landmark ruling, handed down by an employment tribunal on Friday, law firm Leigh Day said compensation owed to the 15,000 drivers they represent could be worth more than £200m.

The court determined that the relationship between Bolt and his drivers does not constitute self-employment, as Bolt claims, but rather an employment agreement, which provides drivers with essential employment protections under labor law.

It affects the more than 100,000 drivers who work through the Bolt transportation app, Leigh Day said.

This decision was made after a three-week hearing in September 2024.

Leigh Day, who also represented Uber drivers in a similar successful claim in 2021, maintains that each Bolt driver could be entitled to more than £15,000 in retroactive compensation for underpayments and unpaid holidays.

The ruling affects more than 100,000 drivers using Bolt’s private hire app, who can now apply for worker status.

Before the hearing, Bolt announced that he would begin offering holiday pay and the national living wage from August 2024.

The court ruled that drivers must be compensated not only for trips but also for the time they spend logged into the app, as long as they are not simultaneously logged into other private rental apps.

More hearings are scheduled to determine exact compensation amounts for affected drivers.

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Leigh Day employment lawyer Charlotte Pettman said the ruling marks an important step forward in ensuring fair treatment of gig economy workers.

“We are very pleased that the employment tribunal has ruled in favor of our Bolt driver customers,” Ms Pettman said.

“This ruling confirms that gig economy operators cannot continue to falsely classify their workers as independent contractors running their own business to avoid granting them the rights to which those workers are entitled.”

“We call on Bolt to compensate our customers without further delay,” he added.

Bolt, who is based in Estonia, has not yet commented on the court’s decision.

A parallel lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of Ola drivers will be filed at London’s Central Employment Tribunal starting Tuesday. It is scheduled to last eight days.