Delivery workers grapple with risks, mistreatment
‘Some customers are nice while some are very disrespectful’
KUWAIT: Dealing with dangerous road risks, mistreatment by customers, stress of meeting unachievable delivery targets and unfair compensation from employers, food delivery drivers grapple with hurdles in their daily life in Kuwait. Near a restaurant area in Salmiya, Kuwait Times spoke to two delivery drivers who had parked their motorbikes there for hours, waiting for someone to make an order.
John (not his real name), a 30-year-old delivery driver from Ghana, shared a common issue faced by almost every motorbike delivery driver. He complained about having to work for long, tedious hours, moving hurriedly from one place to another in a desperate attempt to achieve the required monthly delivery target of 420 orders. “The target is too high. I have been standing here for almost 30 minutes and haven’t got an order. If I get no orders here, I’ll keep moving until I find another location to just get one order — it’s very difficult for us,” he said.
Since his company pays its drivers on a commission basis, not hitting the target results in a reduction of his already minimal salary every month. “I work two shifts, almost 14 hours a day, and my salary is only KD 150 for this much stress; and I never even get the full salary,” he noted.
Not to mention the road risks he must overcome while navigating crowded and chaotic streets on two wheels, with motorists mostly disregarding his existence. With the lack of a cabin, roof, airbags and seatbelts, one can barely overcome road challenges, such as dealing with reckless drivers or managing slippery roads due to rain. “We’re never safe on the road — one little mistake can make us fall. We only ride with one thing in mind, praying for God’s protection,” John said.
What makes matters worse is that some companies don’t provide their employees with health insurance, which prevents them from getting the medical health support they need. David (also not his real name), a 25-year-old delivery driver from Sierra Leone, said: “If we suffer an accident, the company doesn’t care. If we are sick, we are the ones who take ourselves to the hospital. The company is treating us really bad.”
The driver referred to two of his colleagues who are currently staying at home with broken legs due to accidents they had on the road months ago. The company refused to hold itself accountable for the accidents and refuses to pay them their salaries until they get back to work. Dealing with customers is another issue for them. While some customers are very nice to delivery drivers, some are very disrespectful and treat them as non-humans. David noted how some customers make them wait excessively long times before showing up to receive the order, hindering them from achieving their minimum targets.
Sometimes they even accuse them for no reason. “Last week, when I was delivering an order to a guy, I called him and stood there for quite a long time knocking on the door. He then came out shouting at me and knocked me on the head. I just gave him the food and walked off, without taking any money,” he said.
Having to stick to the contract that they signed for the company, delivery drivers get no choice but to stay under these unfair conditions until their contracts end, which John confirmed. “If I get the opportunity, I’ll change my job, but the laws don’t allow me to do this until I serve them for three years,” he said. Lawyer Lina Adlouni said such practices by delivery companies are illegal and against labor rights, as they don’t align with the labor laws of Kuwait. The payroll laws don’t acknowledge payment of salaries based on a specific target every month. Employers are obliged to pay the full salary to an employee as long as they complete their required working period, at least once a month, once a week or once every two weeks.
She emphasized that an employer is not allowed to reduce an employee’s salary under any circumstances. According to her, this means that any employer who doesn’t abide with laws should be subjected to legal accountability. She highlighted that in such cases, filing a complaint at the labor relations department of the Public Authority of Manpower against violating employers is the first and most important step to guarantee an employee’s full rights. But the undeniable problem is that workers lack awareness about their legal rights. Even if they are aware, they don’t agitate for them out of the fear of losing their jobs and their only source of income.
John said he hopes things get better. “I love it here in Kuwait. I just want to make some money, get married and live a fruitful life. But how can I do something good for myself or my family when the company is treating me like this. They are using us and we have no say,” he added. David echoed his words: “We need someone to fight for us, for our rights and our salaries, because whenever we ask for these, they tell us to either leave work or go back to our countries.”