This time we’re talking about delivery riders. There are roughly 100,000 couriers in the UK, whose working lives are governed by apps like Deliveroo, UberEats and JustEat. 88,000 of these work for UberEats alone (though many riders complete tasks for multiple platforms simultaneously). These app-based delivery services act intermediaries between you and your takeaway, using algorithms to assign one of an army of riders, but the way they operate is highly opaque.
While some riders favour the flexibility of the work, more than half of gig economy workers earn less than the minimum wage, and the per-job rate on app-based delivery work can vary by 45% - and this exploitative scenario is worsening. Meanwhile the law backs the app firms, by classifying riders as self-employed, and as such they don’t qualify for sick pay, holiday pay or even a minimum wage.
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain fought for six years to have Deliveroo riders classified as workers, before losing the case in the supreme court in November 2023.
Laura, Ned and Adam talk to Callum Cant, a British author, researcher and labour rights advocate Cant wrote about his time as a delivery rider in his book Riding for Deliveroo: Resistance in the New Economy. Laura also meets a delivery rider who seems happy with his work, despite earning far less than the minimum wage.
Links:
You can buy Callum's book here https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/riding-for-deliveroo-resistance-in-the-new-economy-cant/1684228
'Opaque' algorithms' impact on working lives: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/20/food-delivery-apps-ubereats-deliveroo-justeat-urged-to-reveal-how-algorithms-affect-uk-courierss-work and https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/21/its-a-nightmare-couriers-mystified-by-the-algorithms-that-control-their-jobs
Half of gig economy workers earn less than minimum wage https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/may/11/half-of-uk-gig-economy-workers-earn-below-minimum-wage-study-reveals
Spanish riders' law ends 'false freelancers': https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/03/delivery-app-glovo-bends-to-spains-riders-law-will-hire-thousands-of-couriers/
An AI system used by the UK government incorrectly singles out certain groups for benefit fraud investigations: https://ti-insight.com/briefs/delivery-drivers-set-to-gain-more-rights-under-new-eu-law/
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