TAXI drivers working in St Helens could be entitled to compensation due to being denied holiday pay and the National Minimum Wage, a law firm has claimed.

Leigh Day says it is acting on behalf of drivers working for Veezu, owners of Britannia Taxis, which has branches in St Helens and Newton-le-Willows.

The law firm claims that hundreds of taxi drivers working for Veezu could be entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation after being denied holiday pay and the National Minimum Wage. Britannia Taxis also operates in Wigan, Warrington, Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton and Widnes.

Leigh Day says that Veezu currently treats its drivers as self-employed contractors, but that drivers claim they should be treated as workers and given the appropriate workers’ rights and protection under employment law.

Employment lawyers at the firm allege that the way Veezu operates - including allocating drivers’ jobs, fixing their rates and penalising them for declining jobs – means drivers qualify as workers.

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Leigh Day says it believes there is a strong case that Veezu drivers should be classified as workers and receive compensation for holiday pay and any shortfalls between their pay and the National Minimum Wage.

Leigh Day says the legal action follows a ruling in the Supreme Court for Uber drivers, also represented by the firm, who won a similar claim. The court ruled that drivers working for Uber should be classified as workers and given workers’ rights. 


Gabriel Morrison, solicitor in the employment team at Leigh Day, said: “We strongly believe that Veezu drivers should be treated as workers for the company and given the appropriate rights and protection under employment law.

"As with other similar claims, we are confident that we will ultimately be able to help Veezu drivers achieve workers’ rights.

"All taxi and delivery companies using this type of business model should be aware that they cannot continue to short-change their hard-working drivers.”

When the Star contacted Veezu about the matter, a spokesperson said: “We have not received any formal notice about these claims and we are confident that our position on the status of the driver partners operating via Veezu is lawful.”