Research report: Occupational Safety and Health Risks amongst Food Delivery Workers

Ruokalähettien työssä riskit kasautuvat

Digitaalisten alustojen ruokalähetit ovat tuoreiden tutkimustulosten mukaan jatkuvassa tapaturmariskissä. Alustojen kautta tehdyssä ruokalähettityössä on vähemmän turvallisuutta kuin perinteisen kuljetusalan ja kaupan ruokajakelutyössä. Alustatyöntekijöiden riskejä tuottavat urakkaluontoinen keikkatyö, aikapaine ja yksintyöskentely. Digitaalinen hallinta, jolla työtä ohjataan, ei ole kaikilta osin läpinäkyvää.

Tutkimushanke selvitti ruokajakelutyön koettuja riskejä erilaisissa toimintaympäristöissä.

Hankkeen johtaja Mikko Perkiö on huolissaan siitä, kuinka työmarkkinoiden syrjäyttävät käytännöt kasaantuvat maahanmuuttajille. Määräaikaisella oleskeluluvalla toimiva maahanmuuttaja on pääosin suomalaisen sosiaaliturvan ulkopuolella. Moni alustatyöläinen on lisäksi itsensä työllistäjä, jolla on heikko asema suhteessa sosiaaliturvaan. Kaikkein heikoimmassa asemassa ovat ne ruokalähetit, joilla ei ole omaa tiliä alustalla. He tekevät työtä jollekin alustalle rekisteröityneelle henkilölle. Tällöin jaetaan osiin jo muutoin matalaa palkkiota.

– Näin ’itsensä työllistävän yrittäjän vapauden’ varjolla syntyy toiset työmarkkinat, joiden taso kulujen vähentämisen jälkeen on usein minipalkkojen alapuolella. Mutta toistaiseksi tämä on mahdollista. Kuitenkaan määräaikaisella oleskeluluvalla olevalla ei ole edes mahdollista ryhtyä yrittäjäksi ja vakuuttaa itseään yrittäjän sosiaaliturvan kautta. Pohjimmaisena ruokalähettityössä ovat vailla oleskelulupaa olevat, jotka tekevät työtä rekisterien ulottumattomissa. Näin epävirallinen työ, josta on haluttu eroon, tulee osa suomalaista arkea, harmittelee Perkiö.

Hankkeen tutkija Benta Mbare toteaa alustojen ruokalähettien työhön liittyvän kaltoinkohtelua ja jopa rasismia.

– Lisäksi yksinkertainen alustatyö voi olla turhauttavaa korkeasti koulutetuille maahanmuuttajille, koska siinä työssä ei pääse käyttämään omaa erityisosaamistaan, lisää väitöskirjatutkija Mbare.

Työsuojelurahaston ja Tampereen yliopiston tutkimushankkeessa haastateltiin 10 ruokalähettiä, 10 tuotekeräilijää tai kuljetustyöntekijää sekä 11 esimiestä tai yrittäjää vähittäiskaupassa, kuljetuksessa, henkilöstövuokrauksessa. Heistä 26 oli miestä ja 5 naista. Haastateltavat olivat 19–54-vuotiaita, eikä palkkatyöntekijöiden ja itsensä työllistäjien ikäjakaumissa ollut eroa.

Ruokajakelun toimijoille tehtyjen haastattelujen laadullinen analyysi osoittaa, että työsuojelulla, lakisääteisellä tapaturmavakuutuksella, sairauslomaoikeudella ja työeläkkeellä on merkitystä. Tutkijat muistuttavat, ettei näiden asioiden laaja-alainen laiminlyönti erityisesti maahanmuuttajien kohdalla sovi suomalaiseen tasa-arvoon ja sivistysperinteeseen. Ruokaläheteillä fyysiset ja psyko-sosiaaliset riskit nakertavat työhyvinvointia, mutta eniten turvattomuutta aiheuttaa Suomessa työn tekemiseen liitettyjen turvamekanismien ulkopuolelle joutuminen.

Tutkimusraportti

Perkiö, Mikko; Mbare, Benta; Svynarenko, Arseniy; Kokkinen, Lauri; Koivusalo, Meri (2023). Occupational Safety and Health Risks amongst Food Delivery Workers.
Work Research Centre. Tampere University.

Yhteyshenkilö:
Mikko Perkiö
mikko.perkio@tuni.fi
050 318 6183

Kuva: Petra Heikkilä

STT

Will the new EU initiative protect platform workers from the negative effects of AI and algorithmic management on working conditions?

Uber Driver Photo by Arseniy Svynarenko

by Arseniy Svynarenko, Mikko Perkiö, Benta Mbare, and Meri Koivusalo

Algorithmic management is increasingly important for occupational wellbeing. This is reflected in the Italian court ruled in January 2021 against Deliveroo’s rider-ranking algorithm in the case that was brought by a group of delivery workers and the Italian General Confederation of Labour. The platform’s algorithmic management system applied profiled and evaluated the “reliability” of a worker. The platform didn’t ask if workers were sick or had an emergency and the algorithm automatically downgraded those delivery workers who failed to cancel pre-scheduled shifts. This automatic algorithmic decision had a significant impact on workers’ access to work. A similar practice is in place in one of the food delivery platforms in Finland.

In February 2021, the District Court of Amsterdam issued a default judgment ordering Uber to reinstate five UK drivers and one Dutch driver that were dismissed solely on the basis of automated processing. That was one of the first court cases on platform workers’ access to work brought under EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Article 22 “Automated individual decision-making, including profiling”.

The court cases signal the importance of algorithmic management to the platform economy and its workers. At the end of 2021, the European Commission has proposed a draft Directive on Improving Working Conditions in Platform Work. The directive offers an important step forward regulation of platform work and algorithmic management. The Directive raises the issues of i) improving transparency of use of algorithms, ii) fairness in requirements for obligatory human monitoring of automated decisions that may significantly affect workers working conditions, and iii) accountability for automated decisions so that these can be challenged.

You have to take this ride. Otherwise, you may be blocked.

The Commission’s draft Directive aims at increasing transparency in the operation of labour platforms. It is rather common that on-location labour platforms in taxi and food delivery sectors do not provide drivers and delivery workers with sufficient information on how they monitor their workers and how the platform makes the decisions that directly affect their work. Who is involved in making these decisions? Adopting the new Directive on working conditions in platform work in its current version would make platforms more open to workers, civil society, and regulators.

They downgrade you as a driver. While I don’t know what the effects would be at the end of the day. … you have to take this ride. Otherwise, you may be blocked. (Food delivery worker, Tampere)

The application of algorithmic management differs between platform companies, but most require some management to ensure monitoring and follow-up of tasks. Many drivers and delivery workers interviewed in our research have expressed difficulties in understanding how the platforms work. They know that in many cases a low rating, a damaged car, or a customer’s complaint may lead to automatic deactivation. Rejecting tasks assigned automatically may lead to losing priority points (affecting working time autonomy or access to some of the platform’s features thereby limiting work methods autonomy) or temporary deactivation. Sometimes losing access to work comes without proper explanations, disclosure of significant factors that influenced the automatic decision, and without the possibility for a worker to present their own position or challenge the decision. Lack of sufficient information on how the work is managed by the platform leaves a ride-hailing driver or a food delivery worker with very little work autonomy, e.g. ability to make decisions on how and when to work.

Furthermore, some workers seem to be confused about their status and role in business. This includes treating the tech support team of the platform company as their managers. Replacing human management with algorithmic management may lead to diffusion of responsibility for workers’ protections. Treating platform workers as independent contractors further distances the platform from any responsibility for the wellbeing of the worker, including adequate insurance cover for work-related accidents.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”

A few decades ago public discussions were mostly concerned with robots replacing humans on assembly lines. Now robots are used in management utilizing software and data-based automation, which has become especially visible in platform work.  A broad range of issues arises from this rapidly growing sector of technology: from innovation and business transformation to people’s rights to social security and an adequate standard of living.

European Commission (EC) draft for Directive on improving the working conditions of platform work was tabled on 9th of December 2021.  It builds on previous initiatives and growing recognition of the impact of AI and algorithmic management on people. The key EU regulation regarding algorithmic management is General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted in 2016. The EC communication on Artificial Intelligence for Europe touches upon the issues of AI impact on employment. In the White Paper on AI (2020) the Commission presented its policy outlines for the AI. In it, the EC declared the aims of achieving an ‘ecosystem of excellence’ (promoting the development of AI) and an ‘ecosystem of trust’ (ensuring compliance with EU rules and addressing the risks associated with AI). The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Acts proposed in 2020 also cover several issues specific to algorithmic management, including algorithmic decision-making and human review, transparency, and explainability.

The provisions on algorithmic management build on previous work on data protection. In 2016 the GDPR treated humans as data subjects and focuses on how the data is collected and used. Digital Market and Digital Services Acts have addressed primarily the potential of innovation in the sphere of AI and its impact on the future of European businesses and economy.

The EC draft proposal highlights the necessity of clear communication between a) companies who use algorithmic management and b) their workers who are affected by the AI irrespective of employment status. Platform workers must be made aware that AI is involved, and their representatives (unions and other public organisations) must be informed how the AI and algorithmic management are affecting workers in the workplace.

Currently, these initiatives set the framework for regulation and European-wide action. A key in this process is to what extent the focus will shift towards workers and their rights in the platform economy. The draft proposal is likely to face substantial lobbying and yet it already represents a compromise. The importance of the proposed draft directive will depend 1) on how governments will take it further, 2) on how the technical side of the AI will define the level of transparency of AI, and 3) how standardisation of data and reporting will be addressed. There will be substantial scope for not only lobbying, but utilisation and creation of loopholes and technological escape routes within the fast-developing context of AI and algorithmic management.

The Commission proposal will be subject to full scrutiny. Due to commercial importance of AI, algorithms, data, and trade secrets, there is a risk that political compromise will water down the potential of the proposal to lead to actual improvements in working conditions.

Power, responsibility, and accountability  

So far most of reactions on the draft of the directive have been focused on the employment status of platform workers with less focus on algorithmic management. While algorithmic management remains part of the means for defining employment relationship, the proposed directive would apply in this respect also to contractors.

In the Article 6 of the proposed directive on improving working conditions in the platform economy, the EC requires labour platforms to provide workers (irrespective of employment status) with information about automated monitoring systems and decision-making systems which ‘significantly affect’ working conditions. The Article 7 of the proposed directive mandates human monitoring of automated systems’ impact on working conditions.

The GDPR covers a set of rights of data subjects. The draft directive mostly draws from the GDPR. Articles 6 and 7 of the proposed directive on improving working conditions in the platform economy are based on rights of data subjects presented in the GDPR (GDPR Art. 22 on automated individual decision-making, including profiling).  Further focus on shaping the rules of the digital economy has been sought at European level also through the EU AI act proposed in 2021. The proposal for the AI Act was presented as part of  the ”coordinated European approach on the human and ethical implications of AI”, but it does not mention those individuals who are affected by AI. Nonetheless, the AI act has been praised for recognizing that the AI and algorithmic decision-making are increasingly integrated into functioning of social safety nets and affect social and economic rights. However, at the same time the AI Act also represents a missed opportunity to address the plight of workers affected by the use of AI.

Conclusions

The proposed Directive on improving the working conditions of platform work recognises that algorithmic management and broader specificities of use of worker’s data has a significant impact on workers’ rights and wellbeing. The Directive offers a set of measures to be applied by platforms and involved parties in to safeguard the rights of platform workers. These measures recognize: 1) the complexity of algorithmic management, 2) the lack of transparency of digital labour platforms, and 3) the need for human intervention with the decisions that have a significant impact on working conditions and wellbeing of platform workers.

The proposed Directive offers scope for increasing transparency, strengthening trust, and balancing the power between the digital labour platforms and workers. The question is how much the legislative process will water down what is currently proposed while leaving out key areas or creating mechanisms to bypass requirements.  

It is essential that further legal initiatives will offer rules for proper standardisation of technical reporting in the AI and will clearly define the rights of government agencies and workers’ organisations to assess the AI tools used by the various business or public entities in their management of workers. The implementation of the proposed Directive will depend also on the outcomes of the other legislative processes under multilevel governance. This will offer further scope for lobbying and amending technical documents.

It is justified that addressing occupational impacts of AI and algorithmic management begins with the platform work, where AI has the most pervasive influence. The proposal for the directive on working conditions of platform workers has potential to make a step further in regulation of working conditions for all workers in the age of AI. The question is how large or small it will be.

Definition game – from partners to customers?

by Meri Koivusalo, Mikko Perkiö, Arseniy Svynarenko, and Benta Mbare

In this blog we focus on the debate concerning employment status and how the new European Commission proposals on improving working conditions in platform work relate to this on the ground of our research on platform work. We examine some key elements in the Commission proposal, and reactions from companies and trade unions suggesting challenges and way forward.

Partner, employee, or customer

As part our research of working condition in platform economy we have interviewed dozens of Uber drivers and food delivery workers. The employment status is one of one of the most crucial and at the same time complicated issues. There are very few examples of platforms adopting the employment model.

When transportation platforms claim that workers are “partners”, the level of actual control over workers create the situation when workers perceptions of own status and consequently knowledge of own rights is by far more confused. For instance, one labour platform on its webpage addresses its potential couriers with a slogan “Be your own boss”, presuming that it offers a flexible work and high level of worker’s autonomy. In interviews with platform workers the most common message we received was: “Seriously, I still consider <Platform> is my boss!”.

However, recently Juhani Mykkänen, who is one of founders of food delivery company Wolt, has added another level of complexity to the status definition. Mykkänen described Wolt platform as the customer of the courier:

“Does a gig worker have the opportunity to build their own clientele or work for someone else?

– Here it is important to understand what the customer is, Mykkänen says. – Many people think that the courier’s customer is the one who ordered food, but it is not so in our case. Wolt is a customer of a courier. And a courier may have other customers like Foodora, Yango or Uber. And there’s nothing stopping you from making your own deals with a restaurant. He is completely free to build his own clientele.”

European Commission proposals on improving working conditions in platform work addresses exactly this question: when a platform worker is an employee and when not.

European dimension of platform work

European Commission has now provided for a communication, proposal for a directive and guidelines concerning collective bargaining, which will all proceed to wider scrutiny. The key issue in the process has been employment status for people working through digital labour platforms. The European Commission has set responsibilities and obligations clearly on the side of digital platforms in leaving rebuttal of the presumption of employment to them.

The relevance of the proposal will relate to the prior regulatory framework of the markets as well as other national policies. For example, unlike food delivery, the taxi sector has stronger traditions in Finland and rests on solo-entrepreneur model. Requiring any digital ride hailing platform (e.g. Uber) to become an employer for drivers may be a challenge. Drivers are free to choose if they what to work with an online platform or as a regular taxi with or without dispatcher service (unlike in the UK, Finnish drivers are not segregated in unequal categories). In our opinion, it is unlikely that employment provisions will hit hard those sectors and practices, where national history and practice has been based on entrepreneurship and sector specific regulation. Allowing the collective agreements for self-employed may strengthen driver-entrepreneurs position in relation to digital platforms. There will also be more challenges related to algorithmic management and other aspects of the proposal. It remains to be seen to what extent further discussions on employment status of platform workers may lead towards introduction of the 3rd employment category specific for platform work. However, as consequences of such measures could be far wider, we share the views of trade unions that the 3rd employment category should be avoided.

The crucial issue is how requirements for employment /non-employment are defined and on what grounds the fulfilment of two of them are set in practice in the context of national actions.

What is proposed?

On December 9th 2021, the European Commission announced not one but a package of initiatives for the regulation of platform economy. These include a Communication, a draft directive and draft guidelines for consultations. The proposed Directive on improving working conditions of platform work is based on Article 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and thus set under Article 151 on social policy, which in terms of Commission powers gives substantial scope for national level. DG Competition draft Guidance on the application of EU competition law to collective agreements supports the directive through refraining from action, though it remains draft for consultation. As the European Commission has finally spoken, the case provides an important testing ground for European policies on shaping its digital economy. The policy process will either show the potential for social Europe or the power of corporate and interest group lobbying on European level action.

The definition of the contractual relationship between the digital labour platform and a worker is based on the presumption of employment on the ground of control of work. This is defined further on the ground of fulfilment of at least two out of five criteria (Article 4.2). According to the proposal the worker is thus an employee when a platform is controlling the performance of worker by: “(1) effectively determining, or setting upper limits for the level of remuneration (Authors: i.e. setting prices or ceiling for charges) ; (2) requiring the person performing platform work to respect specific binding rules with regard to appearance, conduct towards the recipient of the service or performance of the work; (3) supervising the performance of work or verifying the quality of the results of the work including by electronic means; (4) effectively restricting the freedom, including through sanctions, to organise one’s work, in particular the discretion to choose one’s working hours or periods of absence, to accept or to refuse tasks or to use subcontractors or substitutes; (5) effectively restricting the possibility to build a client base or to perform work for any third party”.

How these criteria are defined in practice will be of major interest for the platform companies. They may seek to influence the final directive and make its focus or the interpretation of the requirements narrow. Platform companies could also try to interpret their own activities in ways which would leave them outside requirements. This can be achieved, for example, by defining control and the nature of their work in ways, which could escape the requirements. The politics is thus likely to result in a definition game on what is included under requirements, how these are understood and how company practices can be described and understood.

The definition game

Criticism of employment criteria remains a key complaint for Uber and Bolt, which have criticized the presumption of employment and tight criteria for classification of platforms workers as employees. In the opinion of representatives of these two companies the employment of ride-hailing drivers will “sacrifice the flexibility and efficiency of platform work”. The same argument Uber used in its campaign against Prop.22 in California in November 2020. This argument is rather weak as zero-hour contracts would allow for flexibility, justify the control, and offer the employee protections, which would not be available as self-entrepreneur. Employment status would move costs from drivers to Uber.

The challenge for the Commission proposal is that corporations are likely to seek a compromise from the “worker” status adopted in United Kingdom, which resonates with the California case. This is reflected in the Uber commentary emphasising that: “As countries including France have demonstrated, there is a better way and any EU-wide rules should allow drivers and couriers to retain the flexibility we know they value most, while allowing platforms to introduce more protections and benefits.” This articulation would move towards a solution where platform companies are supportive to a more market-based private sector driven task-based social security and insurance policies, which may give the platform companies also potential income and benefits from cooperation . For instance, Uber has already teamed with AXA.

The situation is slightly different with food deliveries as some companies have accepted employment status and problems are also more prominent with food delivery couriers. German-based Delivery Hero, which owns Foodora and a few other food delivery platforms in Europe, criticized the strict criteria for reclassification platform workers as employees. Foodora is known for applying very tight controls over delivery workers, while calling them independent contractors.It is likely that requirement on employment provisions would hit hardest on food delivery sector and practices involved with the industry, even though directive could bring some clarification that these companies can benefit.

Some companies have also sought for European level regulatory clarification. This is reflected in views of Just Eat Takeaway.com and Wolt, which welcomed the EU Commission’s proposal. Just Eat Takeaway.com already employs delivery workers. Wolt, more recently acquired by American Door Dash, is known to impose very light control over delivery workers. The positive spin is evident in the comments by Olli Koski, who described it as “a really good proposal that will truly improve the position of the couriers”. However, this positive approach was combined with Wolt’s talk of itself as “customer” to couriers, which may be of more importance in telling us where this line of argument is going. This hints more to a wish to move its operations under platform2business regulation, through establishing a situation where couriers are customers, which use the services provided by the platform. This implies self-employment instead employment.

The language game extends also to the positioning of what employee or entrepreneur would imply through polarising these as “full-time employment” vs.  “freedoms of an entrepreneur”, which is present in the reaction of platform company Bolt: “The proposal made by the Commission means that hundreds of thousands of ride-hailing drivers and delivery couriers would lose the opportunity of platform work, as platforms would be forced to shift to an exclusive full-time employment model.”  The polarisation of options thus creates an image, where ”flexibility” becomes possible only for entrepreneurs.

Conclusions

Not all platform workers are equal. For example, unlike taxi drivers the delivery workers are much more dependent on platforms and often more confused of their own worker status and their labour rights. They are called “partners” but treated as employees, with often lower net wage than a real employee and with extensive self-responsibility on social protection. In this respect the new EU regulation would clarify their status and offer needed protections. It is highly likely that in the process of adaptation of new directive the large platform companies will continue the language games, playing with definitions for workers-partners-customers. The false narrative of flexibility and efficiency vs employment is already circulating in the reactions to the proposal.

The Commission has offered a set of criteria for defining worker within the dichotomy of employee and genuinely self-employed. This will be a challenge for the platform companies with a danger that in the process of adaptation of this new regulation the tech companies and other lobbyists may water down some of the important novelties in the Commission’s proposals. Lobbyists may bring in compromise proposals which can resemble what previously was known as third category or merely shift the language on requirements enough to escape its reach. However, it is clear that for Social Europe the proposal has been one step ahead. Even if it has not been as large step as many hoped, it is still a reminder that Social Europe exists.  

In the next blog we will look into Commission’s proposals on algorithmic management in platform work.

Fixing the regulation to clarify the status of platform workers

Taxi stop in Helsinki

by Arseniy Svynarenko

Introduction 

The UK Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers weren’t self-employed and must be treated as workers. Uber promises to maintain flexibility of the drivers and give them some new rights and protections. In every country Uber adjust its practices to local legal context, sometimes exploding the grey areas in legislation. It takes a lot of effort for unions and time for governments to fix the regulation and clarify the obligations of platforms, status of platform workers, and their rights.  

A milestone for platform economy? 

On February 19, 2021, after the UK Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers weren’t self-employed and must be treated as workers by Uber. Right after this ruling Jamie Heywood, Uber’s Regional General Manager for Northern and Eastern Europe commented that, Court’s decision was “focussed on a small number of drivers who used the Uber app in 2016”.  (BBC, 2021).  A month later Uber announced introducing Worker Employment Benefits to all 70,000 self-employed drivers: “You will continue to have total flexibility, meaning you can choose if, when and where you work, while accessing new rights and protections.” (Uber, 2021) 

   These new rights and protections will include: 

  1. the minimum wage (the National Living Wage) for the working time that starts from accepting a trip on the app to the completion of the trip. 
  1. right to paid holiday (drivers will receive a payment of 12.07% of driver’s earnings)  
  1. Uber will automatically enrol drivers into a pension plan with contributions shared by Uber and a worker. 

The new practises adopted by Uber in the UK only partly comply with Supreme Court’s decision. The Supreme Court ruled that Uber should recognize drivers as “workers” from the time they log on to the app, until they log off. Instead, Uber limited the working time to the period between driver accepting a ride till the completion of the ride. This means that time between the rides is not a paid working time. On the other hand, it also means that drivers have kept a freedom to choose to work in short gigs with multiple ride-haling platforms and other jobs as regular taxi drivers elsewhere. Their working time with Uber will not overlap with other jobs. Most likely, the full implementation of the Supreme Court decision in regards the working time would lead to the introduction of fixed work shifts by Uber and hereby further reduce already very limited job flexibility. 

It is important to keep in mind that the UK Supreme Court ruling directly pointed out the limited rights of drivers: drivers couldn’t decide the fare, or influence the contract terms, drivers were penalized for rejecting the rides, and the platform would control them through algorithms (ratings, vehicle requirements, photo controls of driver’s identity, documents and vehicle). It is unlikely that Uber will address these issues because the algorithmic control and task allocation is in the core of its technology. And ride-hailing and food delivery platform technology is built on the assumptions that there is a massive supply of cheap and highly flexible labour force, while most of responsibilities for accompanying expenses are shifted to these workers. Labour platforms strive towards monopolisation of markets, reducing the cost of services and expanding of customer base.  

As a result, the digital platforms too often treat workers as employees while continuing to refer to them as independent contractors and glamorizing individual urban entrepreneurship. In an interview to BBC4 James Farrar, who together with Yaseen Aslam and the App Drivers & Courier Union, took Uber to an employment tribunal in 2016) said: “These better terms and conditions … will attract many more people on the platform, … we could see flooding of drivers and vehicles on the streets. … A better regulation from the side of the Department of labour is needed.” (BBC 4, 2021) 

Indeed, lean platforms such as Uber exploit the gaps in legislation (Srnicek, 2017, Rosenblat, 2018) that allow to minimize platform’s expenses on labour force, shift most of responsibilities to an army of “flexible” workers-partners. The UK’s Supreme Court ruling to classify Uber drivers as workers may bring some benefits to drivers but falls short of resolving probably one of central the problems in the platform work: clarity of workers occupational identity. Furthermore, the response by the Uber to the Supreme Court’s ruling probably aggravated the problem of workers identity. Uber gave drivers access to some of benefits of employment without concluding employment contracts. Uber continues the same practices of algorithmic control and workers-contractors have virtually no influence on fares, contract terms. There is no transparency on how work methods and ratings effect the access to work. The ride-hailing continues to identify drivers as “self-employed for tax purposes” while treating them as employees. Apparently, the UK’s labour law allows to do so. As for workers, their confused occupational identity may result in low job satisfaction and not knowing own rights and obligations.  

Uber excluded delivery workers from the new arrangement in the UK and thereby aggravated the inequalities in platform work. The delivery workers remain less protected in the UK and in many other countries. 

Occupational identities of taxi drivers and delivery workers in Finland.    

Across the globe the numerous court cases and growing public debates about the status of platform workers (also their rights and protections) may indicate the scale of disruption on labour markets. Some Nordic countries could serve as examples of how the national and local regulation can bring more clarity to platform worker’s status.  

The labour market and taxi industry are tightly regulated in Finland. Uber adjusted its business model to Finnish regulatory setting as it did in Norway and in many other countries. In Norway Uber operates in a higher segment of limousine car hire (Uber Black) and all drivers are classified as employees working on a limousine company’s cars (Oppegaard, 2021). In Finland Uber drivers usually register as entrepreneurs and typically work with own or leased car. A small fraction of drivers has contracts with Uber Fleet Partners and these partner companies are middlemen between workers and the platform. As licensed taxi drivers in Finland, Uber drivers can work with any platform or as traditional taxi drivers taking customers from taxi stops (although they often get a cold reception from taxi drivers who work only with traditional taxi operators). Their occupational identity is taxi entrepreneurs, the responsibilities are clear for them, and job opportunities are not limited by a ride-hailing platform. At the same time the professional associations of taxi drivers may not be eager to treat equally all taxi entrepreneurs.    

The great uncertainty  

Not all platform workers are in the same situation. Our research suggests that in contrast to taxi drivers, many delivery workers are uncertain about the character of relation with the platforms. A food delivery platform may have a freelancer contract with a courier, call him/her as a “partner” or “rider”, and yet control the worker if he/she was an employee.  Thus, the workers are either confident that the platform is “employer” or confused about own status. In 2020 on the request by the Finnish Occupational Safety and Health authority the Labour Council examined the working conditions of delivery workers and concluded that characteristics of the employment relationship were meat, and the food couriers were employed by the courier companies. Yet in spring 2021, two main food delivery platforms that operate in Finland haven’t made substantial changes in their courier employment practices.  Neither trade unions demonstrated any significant influence on how the platforms treat their workers.  

In March 2021 in the neighboring Sweden the food delivery platform Foodora (operates also in Finland) has signed a collective agreement with the Swedish Transport Workers’ Union Transportarbetareförbundet. The agreement improves the work conditions of 2000 couriers who use bicycles and scooters (and does not cover those who use cars). These workers will be entailed to fixed hourly pay and yearly salary increase, overwork and weekend bonuses, compensation for clothing, bicycle maintenance, and medicines (Helsingin Sanomat, 2021). It is important to mention that in Sweden the delivery workers of Foodora have employee status. Similar processes take place in other Nordic countries. For instance, the Danish trade union 3F and the employers’ organisation Dansk Erhverv have concluded a national sectoral agreement for Just Eat’s delivery riders (ETF, 2021). Earlier in 2019 the Norwegian Fellesforbundet and Foodora concluded a collective bargaining agreement recognizing the employment relationship between couriers and the food delivery platform (ITF, 2019).  

More public discussions are needed.  

The expansion of labour platforms to broader spheres of the labour market means that there is a growing significance of trade union representation for platform workers. Labour platforms tend to capitalize on gaps in legislation and uncertainties of occupational identities of workers. In Finland, platform workers are often uncertain if they are entrepreneurs, employees or someone in-between (workers). Trade unions may play an important role developing adequate regulation of platform work, protecting the rights of workers, and reduction of emerging inequalities caused by the variations in the status of workers of different platforms.  

The examples of ride-hailing and food delivery platforms often can demonstrate how digital platforms construct the uncertainty of occupational identities of their workers. Therefore, there is a need for continuing a broader public discussion on the status of platform workers, on their rights and protections. 

References 

BBC (2021). Uber drivers are workers not self-employed, Supreme Court rules. February 19, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56123668 

BBC 4 (2021). Uber driver pay: What it means for the gig economy https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p099z8p4   

ETF (2021) 3F secures ground-breaking national sectoral agreement for delivery riders. ETF- European Transport Workers’ Federation  

ITF (2019). Union win! Historic agreement for food delivery workers. https://www.itfglobal.org/en/news/union-win-historic-agreement-food-delivery-workers  

Helsingin Sanomat (2021). Foodora teki Ruotsissa historiallisen työehtosopimuksen, joka takaa lähetille vajaan 10 euron tuntipalkan – Wolt selvittää toisenlaisia, HS, 25.03.2021 malleja.  https://www.hs.fi/talous/art-2000007879557.html  

Oppegaard, S. (2020). Regulating Flexibility: Uber’s Platform as a Technological Work Arrangement. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies11(1). https://doi.org/10.18291/njwls.122197 

Rosenblat, A. (2018). Uberland. University of California Press. 

Srnicek, N. (2017). Platform Capitalism. Polity.   

Uber (2021). Worker Employment Benefits. https://help.uber.com/driving-and-delivering/section/worker-employment-benefits   

We are inviting private hire drivers from London to take part in our research

Hi,  

Our research team is looking for drivers from London who are willing to share their experiences of working with Uber or other ride-hailing platforms. If you are private hire driver in London and use Uber or other ride-haling apps, please, contact us by email, text message, WhatsApp or Twitter message. We will be happy to have an opportunity to interview you over Zoom, Skype (or WhatsApp, or other suitable messengers). The interviews are anonymous and usually take about 45-60minutes. We offer an Amazon gift card as compensation for the driver’s time used for an interview

You can learn about our research project on our website https://platformeconomy.fi  

Contact information:

Email arseniy.svynarenko@tuni.fi

Phone /WhatsApp: + 358 50 318 25 23

Twitter https://twitter.com/uberisationrrr/ 

Regards, Arseniy Svynarenko and the Uberisation team. 

COVID-19 & Delivery Workers: health risks and essential help in the same package

Delivery blog

Mikko Perkiö, Arseniy Svynarenko, Benta Mbare and Victor Savi.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures adopted by many governments and cities resulted in slowing down urban life, closing businesses, and locking people into their homes. Social distancing works for public good and it increases the need for efficient grocery and food delivery services. These services help solving public health problems though they include critical health and social protection aspects themselves.

Increased demand for grocery delivery

Most typically, the ‘flatten the curve’ policy included various limitations on mobility of people (without interrupting transportation of goods), closure of educational premises and other public venues. Private services such as restaurants and bars can either be ordered to complete closure or their kitchens are allowed to serve food to clients at home through various delivery platforms. Many countries, regions and cities have gone into a complete lockdown or even curfews. The reports published recently by Google or Apple demonstrate COVD-19 epidemic affected urban mobility in various parts of the world.

Picture 1. Changes in urban mobility on March 29th, 2020 when compared to a median value for the corresponding day of the week, in early February in Lazio region (Italy), Greater London (UK), New York (USA), Uusimaa region (Finland) Stockholm County (Sweden). Source: Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Report).

When people are advised to stay at their homes for longer period of time this eventually leads to an increase in demand for delivery services: someone has to bring groceries, ready food, medicine and other online purchases to people at their homes. In the US, Russia, and some other countries the governments have defined delivery work as part of essential critical infrastructure at the time of crisis and allowed delivery people (who can confirm that they carry on their assignments) freely move disregards the lockdowns (CISA, 2020)

Continue reading at Alusta.

Taxi platforms respond to COVID-19

by Arseniy Svynarenko and Mikko Perkiö

SARS-COVID-19 has significantly slowed  down economies and stalled life in many cities across the globe. This hits very badly millions of taxi-drivers, among them Uber and other platform drivers whose social rights and security are least protected. The platforms react to the crisis in different ways.

Pandemic hit hard both global and local economies

The SARS-COVID-19 epidemic started at the times of reported emerging trade barriers, escalating geopolitical tensions. The World Economic Forum (2019) describes how weakened international collaboration damages collective will to tackle global risks. In December 2019 the growing epidemic caused closure of many Chinese factories and created difficulties for corporations, which rely on Chinese industrial capabilities. In early 2020 the pandemic has hit the international travel, small and big businesses across the globe. And by the middle of March the grim economic projections foresee a global Corona recession.

One of the first measures to tackle the spread of the virus was restriction of people’s mobility. Governments across the world started to screen or ban travelling and travellers first from specific and then more broadly. National borders have been closed and in epidemic areas these measures moved into more severe restrictions of mobility between regions and in restricted areas. Social distancing has resulted in governments and businesses asking people to stay at home, to work remotely when possible, and avoid social contacts. Shopping malls, concert halls, and theatres are closed. Trade fairs, conferences and entertainment events have been cancelled. To enforce nation-wide quarantines some countries (for instance, Slovakia and Czech Republic) banned passenger transportation by taxi platforms allowing only grocery delivery.

The politics and reactions by governments for control of COVID-19 pandemic were brought up by Salla Atkins and Meri Koivusalo. Here we focus on implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on platform economy workers, zoom on taxi-drivers. We analyze also how platform providers have reacted to the epidemic.

Taxi sector and pandemic wave

The COVID-19 pandemic with a dramatic decrease in social activities and consumption has an immediate impact on most business sectors, including transportation of people. Taxi companies estimate 80-90 % decline in numbers of taxi rides within a week between 13-20 March. Finland’s Taxi Association officially “Suomen Taksiliitto” demands local and state responsibility for income compensation for taxi entrepreneurs, who suffer from the suddenly ended school transport as one major aspect of the reduced mobility. Media reported on 31 March that the government of Finland had introduced a flat sum of 2000 euros benefit scheme for those solo-entrepreneurs and freelancers, whose business is substantially weakened by the Corona crisis. There is funding for 50 000 persons. The implementation of the scheme at the municipality level is under process. Furthermore, the government of Finland will extend unemployment benefits temporarily available for the entrepreneurs, although the final details about the scheme are to be decided. Both these schemes help entrepreneur-workers, like Uber drivers, to cope with their severe business losses in this unusual situation.

Read more on Alusta…

Will uberisation become a means to shrug off employer responsibilities?

A research project underway at Tampere University examines whether uberisation will continue to have a positive impact on the taxi industry in Russia and to what extent it will gain ground after Finland’s taxi industry reform.

Uber has been expected to revolutionise personal transport, but in reality the effects of uberisation have been strongly dependent on locality. The most common consequence of uberisation seems to be that companies are using legal loopholes to shirk their responsibilities as employers, which is most often seen in the USA.
 
Uber was established in the USA in 2009 to connect taxi drivers with potential customers through a taxi hailing app. The company has since gone global. Uber and Airbnb, an online marketplace for hospitality services, are examples of platform businesses: they provide a platform that brings together providers and consumers of a particular service.

Uberisation has so far demonstrably increased the use of taxi services and reduced the size of the shadow economy in Russia. In Finland, Uber rides could potentially fill the gaps left by the failed taxi industry reform carried out under the Sipilä administration.    

A research project exploring the effects of uberisation on the regulatory landscape in Finland, Russia and the UK has been launched at Tampere University. The researchers will look into Uber and other similar platform taxi services in relation to regulation and working conditions in Helsinki, London and Saint Petersburg.

Director of the project, Professor Meri Koivusalo suspects that platform businesses such as Uber may be basking in undeserved glory and may actually be just run-of-the-mill companies.  

”If there is nothing new and exciting about the platform economy, then it can be regulated as any other business and will not reshape our welfare state as much as we have been given to understand,” Koivusalo says. 

Taxi reform could ramp up demand for Uber

What could be fuelling the demand for Uber rides in Finland is the failed taxi industry reform that was carried out during the premiership of Juha Sipilä. The reform raised prices and resulted in a marked decline in the availability of taxi services in rural areas.   
 
”The reform could push customers to use Uber, because it is predictable and provides upfront pricing,” Meri Koivusalo says.
 
Responsible researcher in the project Mikko Perkiö says that Finland took a step backwards with the taxi industry reform. People are now expected to spend time looking for the best deal and negotiating fares when all they want is a safe and reliable ride to their destination.  

With Minister Anne Berner at the helm, Finnish policymakers believed that the liberalisation of the taxi market would benefit everyone. The reform promised to drive prices down and improve services. In fact, the opposite occurred.   
 
”Finland followed Sweden’s lead – and made the same mistakes. The reform leaves the door open for Uber but hopefully the trade-off will not be too costly in terms of labour standards,” Perkiö says.    

Meri Koivusalo/ Kuva: Jonne Renvall

Professor Meri Koivusalo is heading a project that explores the regulation of the platform economy and the effects of uberisation on labour standards. Photo: Jonne Renvall

Uber’s arrival reduced Russia’s shadow economy

In Russia, where it has long been customary that anyone with a car can offer a ride to anyone hailing a cab at a street corner, uberisation has increased the use of licensed taxis.

Mikko Perkiö quotes the results of a study carried out in Russia indicating that the number of taxi rides within Moscow increased dramatically in the 2010s, from 50,000 in 2010 to more than 700,000 in 2017. This growth is largely due to more rides being booked using mobile apps.

Another Russian study demonstrates that 90 per cent of Uber drivers operating in Russia’s major cities are satisfied with their driving experience, although 40 per cent of them are considering a job change. Two thirds of the drivers had been unemployed before joining Uber.   

”The arrival of Uber – which merged with the taxi service of the Russian IT behemoth Yandex in 2018 – and other ride-sharing companies that utilise real-time vehicle location tracking has not only improved passenger safety but also increased predictability. Now we know our cab driver, route and fare upfront. Uber seems to have been an optimal solution for cities where unlicensed taxi services have previously been rampant,” Perkiö says.

Independent contractors versus full-time employees

In the USA where employers shoulder the lion’s share of healthcare and social security costs, uberised business models have emerged as a way to shrug off employer responsibilities. The effects are less strongly felt in many European countries where these costs do not take such a heavy toll on employers.

Still, the loudest Uber critics are found in Europe. The researchers reckon that this may partly be due to trade unions being stronger in Europe than in the USA.

According to a study conducted at the University of Jyväskylä three years ago, uberisation has reduced taxi fares, increased the demand for rides and boosted economic growth around the world. The study at Tampere University focuses on regulation and the working conditions of drivers.    

”We are keeping an open mind to both the negative and positive effects of uberisation,” sums up Meri Koivusalo.

Uber is basically an application, a technology platform that could also be used to achieve and maintain regulatory compliance. Koivusalo points out that this is a perfectly feasible option.

”We need to ask whether national authorities have enough regulatory leeway in this area or whether it will be necessary for countries to adhere to international regulations. Or will international companies be expected to adjust their activities to comply with national law?” 

Mikko Perkiö/ Kuva: Heikki Laurinolli
Researcher Mikko Perkiö says that the effects of uberisation are largely dependent on locale. Photo: Heikki Laurinolli

Bigger employment issue than Uber

Uber is a part of the platform and sharing economy that extends far and wide from rental market to delivery services.
 
“The same principles are seen in the social and healthcare sector. There are visions to apply a similar platform approach to the development of hospitals and even universities,” Meri Koivusalo says.

She doubts whether the platform economy will in reality pose such an inescapable threat to the foundations of our welfare state as is often claimed.

“There is no reason why platform economy could not be regulated as any commercial activity. It comes down to policy-makers to decide whether they are willing to at least try.”  

Mikko Perkiö compares Uber drivers to freelancers and self-employed people who usually do not have a similar safety net to fall back on as salaried employees. Self-employed workers make up about 15 per cent of all workforce in the EU. In the UK, the gig economy employs one third of workers under the age of 30. The platform economy is a catch-all term that encompasses a variety of jobs ranging from Uber drivers to food delivery couriers who may be struggling to make ends meet.   

The platform economy is a broad and complex phenomenon and not all the related problems are associated with social security and poor working conditions. Perkiö points out that most Airbnb hosts are middle-class homeowners or hospitality entrepreneurs. The home-sharing company has been widely accused in Europe for hurting the hotel industry and driving up rental prices but has not been blamed for eroding labour standards.

It is possible to regulate the platform economy

Even before the current research project was launched, Meri Koivusalo has kept a close eye on the amount of regulatory leeway that the EU provides to individual cities in Europe. This leeway will have a major effect on the regulation of the platform economy.

”The most important question may be whether regulatory controls can be imposed at the national or European level. It is likely that most of the political wrangling will have to take place between multinational companies and the EU, which may be challenging for the EU.”

According to Koivusalo, the emergence of the platform economy poses new regulatory challenges but also opens up new possibilities.    

“In the future, platform businesses may be regulated differently and from different perspectives than regular companies. These companies may try to give the impression that they cannot be obligated to do anything because they are not employers. This may be a conscious political choice.”

The project headed by Koivusalo received funding from the Academy of Finland’s Research Council for Culture and Society last spring. The project is set to continue until the end of 2021. Researcher Arseniy Svynarenko will carry out research in Saint Petersburg.

Text: Heikki Laurinolli

Source: https://www.tuni.fi/en/news/will-uberisation-become-means-shrug-employer-responsibilities

Uber – Social inclusion or new risks for immigrant drivers? by Magdaleena Lehmuskoski

As global migration accelerates, the integration of immigrants challenges societies. Could platform models, such as Uber, provide social inclusion or do they merely entail new risks?

Uber is a controversial global ride-sharing company providing a platform to connect drivers and passengers. It employs over one million drivers, many of them immigrants. Requiring virtually only a driving license and a vehicle, Uber provides immigrants low-threshold employment while other jobs are hard to find.

Uber promises its drivers flexible, supplementary work. However, many immigrant drivers depend on Uber as full-time employment. Wishing to find a job, they are often compliant with low salaries and limited rights. On average, Uber drivers earn the minimum wage or less. Compulsory expenses, such as commissions, insurances and vehicle costs further increase the risk of economic hardship and indebtedness.

Uber classifies its drivers as self-employed, which shrewdly shifts responsibilities and risks to the drivers. Weak social protection increases the drivers’ vulnerability. In case of social risks, such as accidents, sickness or unemployment, they are liable to cover for themselves. Furthermore, weak regulation creates job insecurity. Uber drivers might get fined or sacked if they reject too many trips or receive poor feedback. A big labour reserve means that they are easily replaceable.

Taxi drivers are exposed to discrimination based on race, ethnicity and language. Though the Uber feedback system is intended to protect drivers and passengers, it has also been accused of unreliability and discrimination. Immigrant drivers have been given poorer ratings based on ethnicity. Rides have also been cancelled once the driver’s racial background has been discovered. Lower scores reduce booking rates and increase the risk of dismissal. This severely compromises the livelihoods of immigrant drivers.

Undoubtedly, Uber offers immigrants prominent employment and integration opportunities. However, their livelihoods being heavily dependent on Uber imposes immigrant workers to a cycle of socioeconomic vulnerability. As labour demand remains insufficient, economic circumstances pressure them to silently endure. Hence, governmental policies should more decisively promote fair organization of work and social protection coverage of all workers regardless of ethnicity.

Original publication