This week the UK Supreme Court upheld an earlier ruling in May that Uber drivers are legally classed as workers and must be treated as such. The court ruled that it is unlawful for a Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) Operator to act as an ‘agent’ between the driver and passenger, meaning that all operators must contract directly with both drivers and riders. What’s the importance of being classified as an Uber employee? Being classified as an employee gives you a range of rights unavailable to ‘gig economy’ casual workers.