Deliveroo backs down over new contracts for couriers
Food delivery firm Deliveroo has agreed not to force workers to sign contracts accepting new terms of pay following a week of protests and strikes. The company originally insisted that the new contracts, which would see couriers change from a rate of £7 per hour, plus £1 per delivery, to a single payment of £3.75 per order, would be compulsory. On Sunday, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said that the firm must pay couriers the £7.20 per hour “national living wage” unless workers were judged to be self-employed by a court or HM Revenue and Customs.

Workers for takeaway delivery firm Deliveroo are claiming victory after the company said it would not force them to sign contracts agreeing to new pay terms, following a week of protests.

A trial due to start in parts of London on Wednesday will see couriers for the company switch from an hourly rate of £7 plus £1 a delivery to a payment of £3.75 for each drop.



Riders, who believe that the new deal could result in them earning less money and remove the certainty that they got from an hourly rate, cautiously welcomed the deal.

Couriers were originally told that they would have to sign new contract terms, or no longer be able to work for the firm. On Tuesday evening, after seven days of strike action by couriers, the firm said that it would no longer be asking riders to alter their contracts. It told those who wanted to switch areas that they would be able to work nearby.

After the concessions were announced, the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain tweeted that it was victory for those who had refused to work, and said riders were set to go back to work on Wednesday.

In a blog on Deliveroo’s website, co-founder Will Shu wrote that riders were “the lifeblood of our company”. He said he believed pay would increase under the new system, but he made new commitments to drivers who were unhappy with the change.

“If riders wish to stick with the old scheme, we simply ask them to move over to a neighbouring zone, no more than two miles away,” he wrote. “Signing the new pay-per-delivery service agreement will not be compulsory during the trial – if riders want to continue working in their zone under the pay-per-delivery trial to see how it works for them, they can do so.”

Riders protesting outside Deliveroo’s London headquarters said they had also been promised that no one who had participated in the strike or been interviewed by the media would lose their job or have hours cut.

Deliveroo courier Amir Ali said that most drivers were likely to stay on now that they did not have to sign a contract and could see how their earnings altered under the new system. Deliveroo has promised to meet in a month to compare the payslips of those involved in the trial, which covers about 280 of the company’s 3,000 riders in London.



“We will give it a go,” he said. “After all these days on strike everybody is losing out and we can’t stay without a job for a long time. Within this period of time perhaps the government can see what they can do so that people have more strength.”

But another driver who declined to be named said Deliveroo had not given any real concessions. “They are not changing their strategy,” they said. “They are signing up new drivers on the new contracts at £3.75 per delivery all the time. It is just a game.”

Another driver said he still believed Deliveroo would try to introduce the new payment rate to other areas.



Deliveroo, which arranges deliveries from restaurants and consumers, works with self-employed cyclists and motorcyclists who provide their own transport and are not eligible for sick pay or holiday pay.



On Friday, after two days of protests and with some of the self-employed workers refusing to do deliveries, Deliveroo said it would guarantee minimum pay at busy periods for workers in the trial, but that they must sign new contracts. Those who did not want to move to the new pay scheme were told that they would need to move to another area.

On Sunday the government intervened in the case. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said that Deliveroo must pay workers the “national living wage” of £7.20 an hour unless a court or HM Revenue and Customs ruled that they are self-employed.

Drivers say that moving to a new delivery area could mean earning less money because it might be less busy and they would earn less via the £1-a-delivery commission.

Employment lawyers said signing up to new terms and conditions would mean that their contract was changed beyond the end of the trial period.

If they remain in the areas covered by the new deal, which include Camden, Hampstead and Belsize Park, some of the wealthiest areas of London, riders say they are likely to get less work because the system will allow new couriers to flood into the area at busy times.