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Integrum ESG’s sentiment tracker flagged a spike in negative sentiment for Deliveroo – here’s a quick summary of what we saw:

A short summary

Last week, a 17-year-old tragically died in a motorbike accident. This occurred while he was delivering food on a borrowed motorbike, using an illegally rented rider account from an ‘approved’ Deliveroo rider account holder. 

A BBC investigation has uncovered that there exists a black market where anyone can buy/rent a delivery app account as a rider if the ‘main account holder’ passes the company’s background checks. 

Why is this happening?

This is called “driver substitution” – a common loophole found in labour policies of food delivery businesses and has frequently been criticised for enabling child labour to occur.

While Deliveroo faced and continues to face numerous court challenges in several markets across the EU and even exit from some states, many UK courts have ruled in favour of the company deeming the riders as ‘independent workers.’

What needs to change?

This is the crux of the problem – despite being the backbone of their industry, riders have few workers’ rights. They neither enjoy the benefits of being an ‘employee’ nor do they have the right to unionise and bargain collectively.

This particular incident has brought to light why supply chain due-diligence laws need to be implemented and with much strictness. It has also highlighted the way in which some food delivery companies dismiss responsibility regarding their riders.

What is being done?

Following the incident, food delivery firms (Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats) have been told by the UK’s interior ministry to implement stricter controls and checks regarding their rider accounts. 
 
With the EU member states coming up with their own supply chain regulations in conjunction with the much-awaited Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), we hope that other countries will follow in their footsteps and implement policies to safeguard the rights of ‘independent workers.’

Written by Integrum ESG Analyst Neha Kandwal.