UK rapid grocery firms plan to put riders back on zero-hour contracts

theguardian.com:

Rapid grocery delivery firms are preparing to move hundreds of couriers paid by the hour on to insecure gig-economy contracts as the threat of tougher regulations has receded, industry sources have warned.

Ministers have failed to bring in a modern employment bill with protections for gig-economy workers, despite promising to introduce new legislation at least 20 times since reforms were first mentioned in the Queen’s speech in 2019.

Now some on-demand grocery businesses, which are firms that aim to deliver groceries within 15 minutes, are understood to be considering terminating the contracts of couriers entitled to minimum hourly rates and paid holiday and instead offering them self-employed contracts, where they will be paid per drop-off.

Quick-commerce consultant Quaid Combstock, who once headed delivery operations for the former on-demand grocer Jiffy, said industry executives no longer feared tougher employment laws, which would have forced them to take on drivers as workers rather than independent contractors.

“One of the largest firms in the sector is planning to move back into the gig economy because it is cheaper to pay people a fixed price for each delivery than by the hour,” he said. “It’s all about cost savings. The industry opinion is that the government is not going to intervene, so why not go for the cheaper option.”

He said the company had already stopped offering contracts with guaranteed hourly rates. “Their next move will be to terminate existing contracts and offer people gig contracts if they wish to apply. I understand it will be some time in the very near future … in the next two to three months.”

The Observer spoke to some of the on-demand firms, which confirmed that they were re-evaluating worker