Big change coming to Deliveroo and other food delivery giants

Deliveroo and other food delivery giants have been put on notice ahead of major changes to the sector.

Deliveroo and other food delivery giants have been put on notice about a significant reform planned for workers in the sector.

The Albanese government intends to have the Fair Work Commission recognise gig economy workers as “employee like” so it can determine appropriate minimum workplace standards for them.

Many contractors such as food delivery drivers have flexible working arrangements but are not afforded entitlements such as minimum rates of pay, sick and annual leave, and superannuation.

Employment Minister Tony Burke on Thursday flagged plans to add the new category of worker to those dealt with by the industrial umpire.

“We want to add a new category of people who are ‘employee like’,” he told Sky News.

“And if you are ‘employee like’ to the extent that you’re like an employee, the Fair Work Commission can determine what are the appropriate minimum standards for those workers.”

Deliveroo riders are considered self-employed by the company.

Mr Burke said the government was consulting with the business sector on how to advance the policy’s implementation.

“Effectively, I don’t want Australia to be a country where you have to rely on tips to be able to make ends meet,” he said.

Mr Burke said he was happy to see that Uber and the Transport Workers’ Union had signed an agreement to work collaboratively to call for a standard-setting body to make both food delivery and rideshare work safer.

His comments come a day after the Fair Work Commission quashed a significant ruling that a sacked Deliveroo rider was an employee rather than an independent contractor.

Deliveroo appealed after the industrial umpire last year found Diego Franco was technically an employee for the purposes of his unfair dismissal case after he was kicked off the platform for alleged lateness.

Employment Minister Tony Burke has flagged changes to the way the Fair Work Commission deals with gig workers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The Fair Work full bench this week criticised the way Deliveroo treated Mr Franco but overturned the ruling that he was an employee.

Mr Burke said the decision was “really interesting” because the commission had upheld that Mr Franco’s treatment was “harsh, unjust and unreasonable” despite him not being an employee.

“They found all of that was true,” he said.

“They also found that technically, this individual doesn’t satisfy the definition of employee. Therefore, there’s nothing that they can do.”

A Deliveroo spokeswoman said it had always “strongly maintained” that its riders were self-employed, as only this way of working enabled riders to be their own boss and base their work around their lives, not vice versa.

“It's time now to move on from the topic of status and instead look at developing the right national reform framework to allow us to give riders the security and benefits they deserve alongside the unprecedented freedoms that on-demand work offers,” she said.