Hugh James is pursuing a group action against Amazon, which will be limited to claims for holiday pay and possible top up for national minimum wage. Claims will be pursued in an Employment Tribunal, a court designed to handle employment disputes of this kind.
Who we are
Hugh James is without doubt the most experienced group action firm in the UK. We have dealt with more cases where a group litigation order has been granted than any other firm. List of group litigation orders. We are a full service, top 100 UK law firm offering specialist legal and financial advice. With over 50 years’ experience, and six hundred staff members, we have the expertise to provide you a service you can trust.
Eligibility criteria
To be considered as part of the group action:
- You must be an active delivery driver for Amazon,
- And you must have been working at your current DSP for a minimum of six months.
This is due to the strict Employment Tribunal deadline, which is three months less one day from the date of the problem or last day of work. We cannot be responsible if your claim becomes time-barred while we are assessing eligibility.
Therefore, if you have stopped working in your role as a delivery driver, we will be unable to investigate your claim and we recommend that you seek independent legal advice elsewhere.
Also, to succeed with our legal argument that drivers have worked for Amazon throughout their work history regardless of changes in DSP, you must have been working continuously as a delivery driver.
How Hugh James can help
Once you have entered into a signed retainer with us, we will begin to pursue your claim in an Employment Tribunal.
The process begins with the option to engage in early conciliation through ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service), an independent body which works to assist with the resolution of employment disputes before the need to lodge a claim arises. The conciliation period lasts up to six weeks and allows time to try and reach settlement with the respondent.
Conciliation is not mandatory. In the absence of resolution ACAS issue a reference number that allows us to lodge the claim with the Tribunal to determine. The respondent then has 28 days to reply; however, they may also request an extension from the Tribunal.
As this will be a group action, a preliminary case management hearing will likely be held to determine the specifics of how the claim will be handled, and to set out directions for the final hearing.
Following the final hearing, at which the evidence of both the claimant and the respondent will be heard, the Tribunal will reach a decision as to whether the claim is successful.
At any stage throughout this process, the respondent could also initiate settlement negotiations.
Key contact
Gwen Morgan-Evans
Partner
Gwen is head of environmental claims and one of the UK’s leading environmental lawyers. She has 11 years’ experience specialising in group actions on behalf of communities affected by various forms of environmental pollution.
Gwen has successfully concluded a number of large environmental group actions in locations throughout the UK. She has represented many thousands of individuals securing compensation, and more importantly to the claimants, an end to the nuisance.
FAQ's
You have registered your interest in making a claim by completing the questionnaire and providing evidence of your work as a delivery driver. However, please note that we have not yet agreed to act for you and no legal claim has been issued on your behalf.
Before accepting your claim, we need to carry out a number of risk assessments to ensure the information and evidence you have provided is accurate and whether you have a viable claim with which we can assist.
Only when you receive and sign our retainer will we be formally instructed to act on your behalf. We will make this step clear to you when we reach it.
The first step in the onboarding process will be to complete our questionnaire. If the details you provide throughout the questionnaire make you eligible to be considered for the group action, you will be asked to upload evidence of your work as a delivery driver. Following this, we will carry out internal risk assessments to determine whether we are able to accept your instructions.
If we are satisfied that the information provided is accurate, and that you have a viable claim, you will be given the opportunity to sign a retainer. This signifies the beginning of our solicitor-client relationship, and that a claim will be pursued on your behalf.
We are unable to provide an exact timeline for progression of the claim due to the many variables, such as the possibility of early settlement and backlogs within the Employment Tribunal.
Once you have signed our retainer, we will contact ACAS. There is the option for parties to attempt early conciliation, a process which can take up to six weeks. This process is not mandatory. If the claim remains unresolved, we will lodge the claim with the Employment Tribunal, and the respondent then has 28 days to reply. However, this deadline can be extended with the permission of the Tribunal. Subsequently, both parties will need to prepare their evidence and await a number of hearing dates from the Tribunal, which can impact the timeline to resolution depending on the capacity of the Tribunal. We will be able to provide further information on timescales one directions have been given by the Tribunal.
We will be acting for claimants on a ‘no win, no fee basis’, offering what is known as a damage-based agreement (“DBA”). This means our fees are paid as a deduction from any compensation that is awarded, up to an agreed percentage. You would not need to pay any fees upfront and if the claim is unsuccessful, as long as you have acted honestly, provided adequate instructions, and not acted against our advice, there will be no charge to you.
However, once you have signed a retainer, if we discover that the information you have provided is dishonest or fabricated, you will not only be in breach of our terms and conditions, but may also be subject to a costs order issued by the Employment Tribunal, which will make you liable to cover the costs of the respondent.
How to register
If you are interested in pursuing a potential claim, please click on the link below which will direct you to our questionnaire.
Please note that you will be asked to upload evidence of your work as an Amazon delivery driver (such as invoices, work contracts, vehicle hire agreements etc.) before you are able to submit your questionnaire.