Food delivery riders and drivers must be paid under the same rules as other truck and van couriers, in a ruling by the industrial tribunal, though it only applies to workers who are employed rather than the contractor workforce of companies like Uber and Deliveroo.
It is a blow to the food delivery giant Menulog, which broke with the industry last year to declare it wanted to employ many of its riders, but argued it needed a new, dedicated set of pay rules to do so on a large scale.
The Fair Work Commission has ruled that employed food delivery riders should be paid like other transport workers.Credit:Rhett Wyman
Menulog’s move followed a series of deaths in the broader industry and intense pressure from the unions and Labor, who argue the sector’s reliance on independently contracted workers’ lack of a minimum wage and other benefits is exploitative.
Uber, Deliveroo and other platforms have consistently defended the contractor model, arguing riders prize it for the flexibility it allows them to accept or decline jobs.
Menulog’s Australian managing director, Morten Birk Belling, said when he announced the move last year it was “the right thing to do”. But the company argued none of Australia’s 120-odd sets of industry minimum pay and conditions rules specifically covered the gig economy industry.
On Friday the Fair Work Commission disagreed, ruling instead that the Road Transport Award, which governs many truck drivers, applies.
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The ruling is not the end of the road for Menulog. It could still seek to convince the commission that a new industry award would work better than Road Transport Award or negotiate with the Transport Workers Union on other changes.
Either of those options will now occur in comparison to a more generous set of pay and conditions than Menulog has been using for its initial small-scale trial of employed couriers, which was the fallback Miscellaneous Award. For example, the minimum pay rate of the Road Transport Award is more than $1 an hour higher.