On the go: The App Drivers & Couriers Union has started legal action against Uber for failing to make Sharia-compliant pension arrangements for its majority Muslim workforce.
The gig economy workers’ union, which represents Uber workers, claimed that the company is in breach of the Pensions Act 1988 and Equality Act of 2010 for excluding Muslim drivers of faith from the company pension scheme.
The Pensions Act of 1998 provides a statutory right for workers not to be subject to any detriment in the pension arrangements.
The ADCU said up to 75 per cent of UK Uber drivers are estimated to be Muslims, and the failure of Uber to provide a Sharia-compliant pensions option effectively means that the majority will be forced out of participation in the pension scheme.
Those that do participate are forced to accept a compromise of the tenets of their faith.
The union said the action will be to ensure inclusion and access to suitable pension arrangements after Uber failed to respond to its correspondence.
Yaseen Aslam, president of the ADCU and lead claimant in Aslam v Uber, said: “While Uber’s belated decision, after a decade of operations in the UK, to finally open a pension scheme for their drivers is very welcome, the exclusion of a Sharia option effectively makes the pension scheme inaccessible for the vast majority of the workforce.
“We’ve tried to resolve the matter quietly with Uber, but we have simply been stonewalled. This is another example of how minority groups by default are forced to struggle for the most basic of rights in the gig economy.
“The ADCU is determined to contest matters through the courts to make sure Uber makes lawful, fair and inclusive pension arrangements.”
Sharia compliance requires that pension funds should not be invested in companies involved in activities that contravene the tenets of Islam, including, for example, the production and sale of alcohol, tobacco, armaments, gambling, pork, and certain financial services.
The union said Sharia investment screening is comparable to screening for environmental, social and governance ethical funds.
The ADCU is demanding that Uber takes corrective action within 14 days.
Pensions Expert’s sister title FTAdviser understands that Uber is working with its pensions provider to make a Sharia-compliant fund available through the driver pension scheme, and is anticipated that the new fund will be made available to drivers this summer.
In September 2021, Uber picked Now Pensions as its provider after the High Court ruled in March 2021 that it had to classify its drivers as workers.
Following the decision, Uber said all eligible drivers would be automatically enrolled into a pension plan with contributions from Uber alongside driver contributions.
This article originally appeared on FTAdviser.com
