Employees from gig economy firms such as Deliveroo will face further questioning by UK MPs over their working conditions.
According to the Financial Times, Rachel Reeves, the newly appointed chair of the House of Commons business committee, is looking to question senior executives, couriers and drivers working across the gig economy to explore the way in which self-employed workers are being treated.
Additionally, Reeves said she wanted to further scrutinise a report commissioned by PM Theresa May and produced by Matthew Taylor, a former advisor to Tony Blair, which highlighted the need for gig economy workers to be afforded extra protections.
“I don’t really buy this idea that Deliveroo and Uber go down the self-employed model because it’s so great for the workers and that’s the only thing the workers want to do,” she added. “There are clearly some big disadvantages to being self-employed in terms of missing out on certain rights.”
Although criticised, the Taylor Review, proposed a new category of worker known as ‘dependent contractor’ and recommended that companies operating within the gig economy should guarantee minimum wage at specific times.
Speaking at the time of the report’s release, a spokesperson for Deliveroo said the firm wanted to continue offering riders the flexible work they desire while also providing them with benefits.
“We would welcome the opportunity to work with the government so we can end this trade off between flexibility and security,” they added.
Tech City News contacted Deliveroo for a statement but no reply had been received at press time.