Should we all pay £1 more to get takeaway delivery workers a better deal?
The boss of Deliveroo said that if workers receive the National Minimum Wage, customers will have to pay an extra £1
THE boss of Deliveroo has claimed the cost of giving their takeaway delivery workers basic rights will mean customers will have to fork out an extra £1 on orders.
Deliveroo has come under fire for not paying its workers the minimum wage or giving them holiday and sick pay.
But UK managing director Dan Warne told MPs that customers would be the ones to pay the price for any major change.
Deliveroo's 15,000 delivery riders are currently classified as self employed couriers, which means they do not have to receive the National Minimum Wage.
Uber's 50,000 drivers in Britain are also classified as self-employed, with the firm's UK Head of Policy Andrew Byrne telling parliament's business committee it would cost "tens of millions" to treat its drivers as employees.
The firm is currently in a dispute with TfL, who initially banned Uber operating in the capital.
Byrne gave hope to the 3.5 million Londoners who use Uber though, saying to MP's there was a "path forward" to solving the dispute.
He said: ";The company accepts that in lots of places it has had the wrong attitude and needs to change."
MP's, who heard first hand accounts from workers on zero hours contracts, were shocked to discover that luxury parcel courier Hermes cancelled a delivery driver's contact when he had to rush to the hospital for the premature birth of his child.
The courier was told "parcels come first."
Currently, Deliveroo customers pay £2.50 for the privilege of having their takeaway delivered, increasing to £4.50 if their order is under £15.
A study by former Blair aide Matthew Taylor earlier this year, recommended that workers at firms like Deliveroo and Uber should be classified as dependent workers, rather than self employed.
Deliveroo and Uber both say their workers enjoy the flexibility being self-employed offers them - but earlier this month, in Bristol staged a strike over unpaid wages, and last year two Uber drivers won workers rights after taking their case to a tribunal.
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