Couriers score a win for ‘gig economy’ workers
Hermes, the UK’s second-biggest parcel delivery company, has made history in the “gig economy” by granting its so-called self-employed couriers a guaranteed hourly wage and paid holiday time. Other companies operating under the same pretence should follow.
The offer is the result of a deal with the GMB union. In June, it won a case against Hermes in an employment tribunal, which ruled the company’s “lifestyle couriers” — who deliver packages on a flexible schedule using their own cars — should be classified not as self-employed contractors, but as workers.
Hermes has now agreed to let the couriers opt into contracts giving them 28 days paid holiday and at least £8.55 ($16.30) in hourly pay, slightly more than the national minimum wage. Couriers will, however, also have a chance to retain their current status and “earn premium rates”.
Hermes isn’t part of the techdriven wave of gig economy companies — it is part of a German group founded in 1972. Its executives made a point of that while defending its employment model.
“All rate discussions are done in person, not through a faceless app, not set by a pitiless algorithm,” Hugo Martin, the company’s director of public and legal affairs, told an employment forum in 2017.
But the “lifestyle couriers” are part of the same gig economy in which the likes of Uber also operate.
Nothing is new under the sun, and trying to pass off workers as unprotected independent contractors, working in their free time and happily taking on all the risks, isn’t a technological innovation.
The Hermes deal should serve as an example to Uber and its peers. In 2016, the ride-hailing company lost a labour tribunal case similar to Hermes’ — but instead of changing its practices, it continued the legal battle, losing one appeal after another. The latest ruling against it came down in December.
Now, Uber is taking the case to the Supreme Court in the UK and simultaneously fighting similar challenges in the US.
Another gig economy firm, Deliveroo, has successfully fought off a demand to allow collective bargaining on behalf of its riders.
But perhaps the best way to convince firms to do more for their workers would be to show them that it is good business.
According to the latest annual poll by MoneySavingExpert.com, 42 per cent of those who rated their experience with Hermes called it “poor”.
We’ll see if a more secure, and presumably happier, workforce improves Hermes’ ratings. If it does, that would be a strong argument for others to take better care of their workers.