London cycle courier says he was punished for refusing delivery after eight hours in the cold

A London cycle courier has told an employment tribunal that when he turned down work at the end of a snowy eight-hour shift, he was punished by the firm for whom he was a contractor. Andrew Boxer is considered self-employed and is paid per delivery but is fighting to be classified as a “worker”.

Boxer is one of four London bike couriers taking their respective companies to court in a bid to get employed workers’ rights.

Speaking in April, he said his case was typical. “I work for one company for around 50 hours a week. They tell me what to do, when to do it and how to do it. I am monitored, have to have company ID with me at all times, and can't take work from other companies.”

Boxer is a contractor for Excel, a courier firm that is in liquidation and now operating as part of CitySprint. He is not entitled to the national minimum wage, holiday pay, sickness benefit or a pension.

The Guardian reports that Excel is not contesting the case.

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Boxer told the tribunal that he could not turn down work during a shift or take time off without prior arrangement. He said he could recall only one occasion when he had turned down a delivery, after working for around eight hours in rain and intermittent snow.

“I simply did not have the energy and physical resource to pick [offered work] up. It would have been dangerous to have carried on.”

Boxer said that as a result of this decision, he was told that he could expect not to be given time off to attend auditions for acting work when he needed it.

The case is being overseen by Joanna Wade. In January the same judge ruled that CitySprint had wrongly classed courier Mags Dewhurst as a self-employed freelancer and she won the right to paid holidays and minimum pay.

CitySprint has 3,500 self-employed couriers in the UK and is now expected to face further claims. The firm itself has claimed that the Dewhurst ruling is only relevant to that particular case.