In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that Uber must recognise its drivers as workers rather than self-employed contractors, riders for takeaway app Deliveroo have launched a criticism of the company’s working practices.
In an open letter to CEO William Shu, Deliveroo drivers called on him to improve working conditions for riders. The company has seen its sales rocket during the pandemic, as demand for takeaway and grocery delivery soared, and is poised to list on the London Stock Exchange.
The letter comes as a new global network of Deliveroo riders, Rights4Riders, has emerged to criticise working practices at the takeaway app. One of the key criticisms is Deliveroo’s continued classification of drivers as self-employed contractors, rather than employees of the company.
Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Federation (ITF), which is supporting Rights4Riders, said: “While competitors like JustEat are changing their ways, Deliveroo has left the riders feeding our cities struggling to feed their own families.”
“This sits alongside continued attempts by Deliveroo to shirk responsibility for job security, minimum wages and social security protections by misclassifying riders as self-employed contractors.”
The alleged misclassification of workers as self-employed contractors has begun to be a sticking point for companies in the gig economy, with the argument being that misclassification is used by companies to avoid responsibility for employment entitlements such as sick pay and holiday.
Along with last month’s ruling that Uber drivers were direct employees of the company, courts in the Netherlands and Spain have both recently reached rulings that Deliveroo drivers are not self-employed and must be treated as employees of the company.
