10 May Gig economy, could you survive?
As another company goes into legal battle with their own workers this week about the gig economy, the question still lies in how secure and reliable is the gig economy and there jobs, George Timberlake reports
This week it was announced that delivery company Hermes is going to face a legal battle with its own delivery drives, in the latest case on labour rights in the ever growing gig economy. The major changes for labour rights follows in similar cases with companies such as Uber and Deliveroo facing the legal battle of how they engage gig economy workers.
The allegations towards Hermes were that the drivers are being denied basic workers’ rights by being forced to declare as self-employed, meaning they are not entitled to holiday pay or to be paid the legal minimum hourly rate under the national living wage.
The claim against Hermes is very similar to other tribunal hearings, including cases brought against Uber, Addison Lee, City Sprint, Excel and eCourier. In this situations judges have ruled that the staff should be given the legal classification as “workers”, therefor they should receive the minimum wage and holiday pay rights.
In 2016 the ride-hailing firm Uber was told its drivers should be classed as “workers” with minimum-wage rights. Uber, which says its drivers are self-employed, lost its appeal against the decision last year but said it would appeal again. The case could end up in the supreme court this year.
Speaking to Deliveroo driver Mohammed Desi, he claims that Initially he was paid £7 an hour plus £1 per order, as well as petrol and about £15 in tips a week. Now he gets £3.75 per order. Although he did say he worked it out to be earning around £10 an hour, he believes the rate to fluctuate and potentially go down.
“I don’t receive any sick pay or holiday pay, so when I am not working I receive no income.” He tells me “I can live off it, but it’s hard, my mother was ill a short time ago and needed looking after. Luckily I had the support of my family, Deliveroo offered nothing.”
Mohammed works on average around 30-35 hours per week, he says “some days there are lots and lots of orders coming in and its busy and stressful but it’s the prime time to be earning most money so it’s worth it. Other times however, I am just sitting there waiting, hoping for orders to come in.”
Deliveroo says that riders receive around £9.50 per hour on average across the UK rising to £12.00 per hour for riders on the fully flexible fee per delivery model and the company takes no commission
Like other cases of a similar nature, such as those involving Uber, the outcome will now be closely scrutinised for what it means regarding the workplace rights of the millions of people employed in the gig economy in the UK.
