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Australia s so-called gig economy giants are coming under pressure to reform their industry as a NSW Parliamentary inquiry into insecure work gets underway.
At a NSW Senate inquiry on Monday, rideshare companies such as Uber and Deliveroo defended their business model, which refuses to consider their workers as employees with rights to minimum wage and injury compensation.
As hearings continue, the inquiry is exposing how some workers are themselves paying for accident insurance despite earning below minimum wages.
Uber driver Assad Manzoorq said many workers in his position were hesitant to speak out.
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“We considered ourselves invisible before the COVID happened, then everyone relied on the service we are providing. And others as well, the citizens, the immigrants, the workers, the students. they considered that even if we speak out, we raise our voice, we think, it s an understanding that no-one is goi
Unions have congratulated food delivery platform Menulog after it announced it will consider its contracted riders as full employees in a Sydney trial.
Last modified on Mon 12 Apr 2021 06.00 EDT
Menulog says it is moving away from the controversial independent contractor model favoured by its gig economy rivals and wants to have all its couriers employed by the company within a âfew yearsâ timeâ.
In a move designed to differentiate itself from rivals such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo, Menulogâs managing director, Morten Belling, said on Monday the company would move towards an âemployment modelâ beginning with a trial among its Sydney couriers.
At the same time, the company will also look at its existing contracts with its current pool of couriers and examine ways to âbridge the gapâ, compared to those working under an employee model, Belling told a Senate select committee inquiry on Monday.
Food delivery app Menulog will treat drivers as employees in Australia
Menulog s decision to treat delivery drivers as employees is a bold step for the gig economy.
Image: Menulog
2021-04-12 09:49:15 UTC
Food delivery app Menulog will soon treat its Australian delivery drivers as employees instead of independent contractors, ditching the framework that its peers have stubbornly clung to for years. It s a massive change, and one that may have far-reaching implications.
Menulog s huge shift from a contractor model to an employee one was announced by managing director Morten Belling during the Senate Select Committee on Job Security s Monday hearing. The committee is currently conducting an inquiry into workers rights and wages in Australia s gig economy, among other issues.
Menulog to trial employment model for gig workers
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Menulog will trial employing its delivery riders on minimum wages and entitlements in a landmark pilot that will test whether requiring riders to work exclusive shifts could reduce the size of its workforce.
Meanwhile, industry incumbent Uber has also given its strongest backing yet to minimum rates by saying there is scope for reform as long as the rates only cover ride or delivery periods, not wait times.
CEO of Menulog Morten Belling has said employment is a moral obligation.Â
Rhett Wyman
The positions of the gig companies, appearing before Laborâs Senate inquiry into job security on Monday, mark a significant shift in favour of employee-like conditions and away from independent contracting.