Delivering the Deliveroo Dismay – I work hard, but what am I?

Traditionally, the world knows employment as a relationship between an individual who is committed to working for an employer in exchange for monetary compensation, and in return they offer their time, skills and efforts for the employer’s betterment of its business.  In those days, working for more than one employer at the time is not unheard of, but uncommon for most of the job positions and is often an involuntary choice of an individual who is driven by financial needs, taking out a second or even a third job to supplement their income.  This is also known as “moonlighting”, which can sometimes be of ethical concern or even a contractual concern for many employers who have express policies limiting or even prohibiting moonlighting to ensure that their employees remain fully committed to their primary job.

Lifestyle changes has seen many traditional jobs going out of the window, and amidst it sprouted a new labour market known as the “Gig Economy”, a term which is now no stranger to the citizens of the 21st century.  Gig economy allows for short-term, flexible, or freelance work for tasks to be completed on an ad hoc basis, a job arrangement prevalent in various industries, such as food delivery businesses.

Deliveroo, a British online food company founded in 2013 with its headquarters based in London, makes a revenue through connecting local restaurants for a fee in return for showcasing their menus on a mobile app, offering customers a diverse selection of food options, and charging customers ordering through the app an order fee.  Together with its great convenience to mankind comes harsh criticisms over its underpayment of its delivery drivers and failing to meet minimum employment conditions, with 2016 protests in London delivering a neologism, “Slaveroo”. 

Following the protests, Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) fought a seven-year long battle until 21stNovember 2023, to negotiate for better payment and employment terms, also known as “collective bargaining”, with Deliveroo.  Usually, trade unions representing employees or workers in the UK enjoy the protection under Employment Relations Act 1999 or Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, where employers must oblige to the representation of unions of their employees’ or workers’ choice on collective bargaining.  However, in this case, IWGB lost their noble status which they would have usually enjoyed when bargaining on those with employee or worker status, as the Deliveroo drivers had too much flexibility and freedom and are perceived as self-employed persons.  Therefore, Deliveroo is under no legal obligation to accept or permit collective bargaining from IWGB and there is nothing in the legislative framework to compel a reluctant business to enter into negotiations with a union of the self-employed persons’ choice.

Now that the legal challenge by the Deliveroo drivers has reached the end of the road in this country, it is important to note that the effective of trade unions can influenced by legal, cultural and economic factors.  The liberty remains with the drivers to form a partnership and negotiate a voluntary partnership agreement with Deliveroo, which would still help promote a fairer working relationship for the drivers.  We remain hopeful that in the course of the fight for better job security, perhaps the race of technology will prevail and having clever robots replacing the humans in the delivery of our food will be more than just a dream.

If you have read this article and agree that perhaps an investment in AI is a better idea, please contact us immediately on info@lyint.co.uk for legal advice. We are always here to help, human or not.

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