Mr S Iqbal v Uber London Limited PUBLIC PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2025

At the public preliminary hearing on 1 May 2025, Employment Judge S Shore dealt with the claimant's unfair dismissal complaint against Uber London Limited. The claimant said he began driving in August 2022 and that the engagement ended on 5 December 2022. The tribunal recorded that ACAS early conciliation began on 18 September 2024, the certificate was issued on 7 October 2024, and the ET1 was presented on 1 November 2024.

The tribunal found that Mr Iqbal was not an employee of the respondent within section 230 ERA 1996. It also found that he had only about four months' engagement, so he did not have the two years' continuous service required by section 108 ERA 1996 and did not identify any exception to that requirement. On that basis the unfair dismissal claim was struck out, and the judge also said that even if the claimant had been an employee and had presented his claim in time, he would not have succeeded on the case he presented.

The tribunal further held that the unfair dismissal claim was out of time under section 111(2) ERA 1996 and that the claimant had not shown it was not reasonably practicable to present it earlier. In reaching that conclusion, the judge relied on the claimant having a smartphone, his contact with a trade union and his MP, and his failure to make enquiries until summer 2024. The tribunal also found that the period between the ACAS certificate on 7 October 2024 and presentation of the ET1 on 1 November 2024 was not reasonable.

The remaining claims were withdrawn and dismissed: breach of contract for notice pay, unauthorised deduction from wages, holiday pay, a statutory redundancy payment, and an intimated National Minimum Wage Act 1998 claim. The tribunal recorded that the claimant said no money was owed on termination and that he no longer pursued those financial claims.