New South Wales needs to introduce a portable entitlement scheme and establish a tribunal to deal with pay and conditions for gig economy workers, or risk falling behind other states in protecting ride share and delivery drivers, a parliamentary inquiry has found.
In a report handed down on Wednesday morning, the future of work inquiry found the state needed to commit to greater protections for gig economy workers because the failure to provide them with a minimum wage, paid leave and other basic entitlements was increasing inequality across the state.
“The cyclist who delivers our Friday night takeaway receives next to none of the conditions long considered fair and decent across Australia,” the report said. “The job itself also puts workers in very real danger of injury, abuse and harassment.
“Late 2020 was marked by the deaths of no less than five food delivery riders, all while this inquiry was underway. These deaths, and the high potential for further tragedy, underscore the need for immediate action by the NSW government.”
The inquiry, established in 2020, heard evidence of a power imbalance between the sole contractors and the multinational corporations they work for.
A Transport Workers’ Union survey of riders found one-third had reported being seriously injured at work, with 66% reporting they had been subject to harassment or abuse while working.
The widow of Hungry Panda rider Xiaojun Chen, one of the five food delivery riders killed during the course of the inquiry, told the inquiry his death has had a huge impact on her and their children.
“Until now I still cannot believe that my husband has left us forever, my eight-year-old son has lost his father and the elderly parents with grey hair have lost their son forever. I cannot imagine how we are going to carry on our lives.”
While some of the companies like Uber and Deliveroo claimed their drivers can earn an average of $21 an hour, or $10-11 per delivery, much of the evidence put forward by the companies was disputed by riders and the Transport Workers’ Union.
Riders told the committee that a significant disadvantage of gig economy work is the lack of basic entitlements such as minimum pay.
The Deliveroo chief executive, Ed McManus, told the inquiry that riders prefer the contractor model because it allows them to work for multiple companies and choose for whom they work.
McManus also told the committee while it would seem fair for someone who frequently delivers for Deliveroo to be entitled to sick leave if they became ill, he was concerned the provision of sick leave would then form part of the work-status test to determine if the worker was an employee or independent contractor.
The Uber Eats managing director, Mathew Denman, told the inquiry any entitlement provisions would need to take into account delivery riders working across multiple platforms.
Inquiry chair and opposition gig economy spokesperson Daniel Mookhey said the law needed to catch up with modern practices.
“A gig worker in NSW is more likely to earn less than the minimum wage, get injured at work and then go without compensation than someone doing the exact same job in places like New York and London,” Moohkey said.
“The state government needs to act. NSW can establish minimum rights and conditions, binding work health and safety laws and a workers’ compensations system for gig workers.
“If the NSW government continues outsource its responsibilities to Canberra, then nothing will change. Gig workers will remain at the mercy of giant tech platforms that have a monopoly on market power.”
The TWU national secretary, Michael Kaine, welcomed the report and urged the government to act on the recommendations to protect workers and modernise the state’s industrial system.
“A tribunal with strong powers to set enforceable standards would help end the insecure work crisis undercutting secure jobs by setting gig workers up with fair rates of pay and conditions regardless of their classification,” Kaine said.
“It’s time to end the carnage: the NSW government must adopt this clear roadmap to end the bloodbath on our roads”.
In April last year, Menulog announced a trial to convert its Sydney CBD delivery rider contractors into employees with the associated entitlements.
Guardian Australia has sought comment from the NSW government.
