More than 50 drivers are bringing a legal claim against Royal Mail-owned eCourier over their employment status, seeking deposit orders of up to £150,000. A three-day preliminary hearing is due to take place at the Central London Employment Tribunal from 26-28 August, with Leigh Day representing the couriers in their long-running challenge over whether they should be classed as workers rather than self-employed contractors.
The law firm is applying for a £1,000 deposit order for each claimant in relation to three arguments it says are central to eCourier’s defence of the claims. If all three arguments continue to be pursued across the more than 50 claims, the deposits could total £150,000.
The hearing represents the latest stage in a dispute that has been running for several years. Leigh Day first launched a group claim on behalf of eCourier drivers in August 2025, initially representing 15 former drivers, with the firm saying at the time that around 500 current and former drivers could potentially be eligible.
In February 2026, Leigh Day said 46 drivers were taking legal action, alleging that they had been wrongly treated as self-employed despite the way their work was organised in practice. The latest hearing follows the subsequent expansion of the group claim to more than 50 drivers.
The drivers argue that, although they are engaged as self-employed independent contractors, the reality of their working arrangements means they should be classed as workers under UK employment law. If successful, the claims could give drivers access to employment rights including the National Minimum Wage and paid holiday.
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Leigh Day says the evidence it intends to present includes allegations that drivers work set shifts, are tracked and monitored while working, and are required in practice to carry out the work personally. The firm is also seeking to establish whether the claims should be consolidated and heard together, with the tribunal expected to provide case-management directions, including how lead claimants should be selected.
Judgment is hoped for at the end of the three-day hearing, although the tribunal’s decision will determine the next stage of the proceedings rather than necessarily bringing the wider claims to an end. Liana Wood, employment solicitor at Leigh Day, said the hearing was an important step in the drivers’ “long-running claims” for employment rights.
Liana Wood said some of the claims had been ongoing since 2019 or 2020 and argued that the way the couriers work means they should be regarded as workers. “We will present evidence on behalf of our clients that couriers work set shifts, are tracked and monitored while working and, in reality, have to perform the work personally,” Liana Wood said.
The dispute has particular relevance for fleet and logistics operators because eCourier’s work includes medical deliveries, with drivers transporting blood samples, medical equipment and test results between hospitals and healthcare providers. The majority of the drivers involved in the claim operate in London and the South East.
The claim is supported by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), whose general secretary Henry Chango Lopez said the couriers were carrying out essential work, including emergency medical deliveries. The union has previously accused eCourier of using “bogus self-employment” to reduce costs and shift financial risk onto drivers.
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Those claims are disputed and remain part of the wider legal dispute. The case has been closely watched since journalists reported in February that dozens of delivery drivers had joined the legal action against eCourier. At that point, the drivers were arguing that the level of control exercised over their work — including the allocation of jobs and expectations around availability and performance — was inconsistent with genuine self-employment.
The issue is part of a wider series of worker-status disputes involving companies operating within the gig economy and courier sector. Leigh Day has represented drivers in cases involving Uber, Addison Lee, and Bolt. Its eCourier claim page says the case is focused on whether drivers should be classed as workers while potentially remaining self-employed for tax purposes, similar to the pay-per-mile car tax system.
There is also a precedent for deposit orders being used in worker-status litigation. In 2023, an Employment Tribunal ordered Addison Lee to pay deposits of up to £125,000 to continue with certain arguments in a workers’ rights case brought by drivers. The Employment Appeal Tribunal subsequently upheld that decision in 2024.
eCourier drivers who currently work for the company, or who have worked for it within the previous 10 weeks, may still be eligible to join the claim, according to Leigh Day. They will therefore be closely watching the eCourier tribunal, particularly where working practices involve significant levels of scheduling, monitoring, control or personal service.
