Rule number one of everything: If it feels too good to be true, there’s probably some dodgy bullshit operating beneath it.
In recent months, you might have noticed that inner-metro areas of Australia’s major cities have been flooded with an array of new food delivery options, allowing you access to top quality nosh that was previously inaccessible to you unless you put on pants.
But the pantsless revolution, powered by companies such as Deliveroo and Foodora ain’t all that it seems, apparently.
The bike riders that pedal your dinner to you are apparently copping the raw end of the stick, with dodgy contracts in place that see them paid as little as $10 an hour.
In a report published this morning, Fairfax Media claims to have obtained rider contracts that stipulate the dodgy working conditions, which sees riders classified as independent contractors, and not actual employees. This means that Deliveroo and Foodora can circumvent usual employment conditions such as penalty rates, overtime, and superannuation contributions.
Riders are required to obtain an ABN before signing the contract, and in some cases were not given an hourly rate at all.
It’s understood that new Deliveroo riders are given no hourly rate, and are only paid a fee of $10 per delivery made. Once a rider graduates to “old” (after an unspecified amount of time served) they are given $16 per hour, with $2.50 bonus for each delivery made. There are no weekend or late night penalty rates and no superannuation.
For Foodora riders, the conditions are *slightly* better, but still well below the legislated minimum wage.
New riders are paid $12 an hour, with $4 per delivery made. Old riders graduate up the pay scale to $14 per hour, with $5 per delivery paid on top.
The system works by forming partnerships with restaurants that don’t normally offer delivery. People place orders through the app, and the bike riders pick the food up and deliver it. Deliveroo is a British-based company with a recent valuation at a whopping $715million. Meanwhile Foodora (a recent rebranding of the absorbed Suppertime) is owned by German-based parent company Delivery Hero, and claims to be worth in excess of $4billion.
The riders, who are not covered by WorkCover or by public liability insurance, are allowed flexible hours and must provide their own bikes – kind of similar to Uber drivers – which according to a Deliveroo spokesman, necessitates that they be classified as independent contractors, and not employees.
But the Fair Work Ombudsman asserts that all delivery drivers should fall under the Road Transport and Distribution award wage, meaning the minimum they should be paid is $22.88 per hour, with appropriate penalty rates for weekend work.
Bike couriers in the past have been pushed to be included under the Road Transport and Distribution legislation, following a court case in 2001 involving a bike courier who knocked down a pedestrian and was ruled to be an employee of the company, and not an independent contractor, largely due to providing unskilled labour and representing the company through wearing a uniform.
Both Deliveroo and Foodora riders wear appropriate branded outfits, and carry company-branded food-carrying boxes on their bikes.
It’s understood the Fair Work Ombudsman is already assisting in at least one case with an aggrieved food delivery rider.
Source: The Age.
Photo: Deliveroo/Facebook.
