01.17.2022 07:00 AM
A new subcontractor industry in Europe is benefiting from platforms’ efforts to clean up their image and comply with stricter employment rules.
When Jake Thomas applied to be a courier for Just Eat, he was excited to become an employee. The 22-year-old union member saw the meal delivery app advertising positions in London with hourly wages, paid holidays, and sick pay, and he was instantly drawn.
But when Thomas looked at the paperwork for his new job, the company on the contract was not Just Eat, but a Dutch staffing agency called Randstad. In 2020, Just Eat had announced it would be leaving the gig economy model behind by giving its couriers hourly pay and benefits under what is called its “Scoober” model. But the small print showed that riders would not receive these benefits from the platform directly. Now Thomas says he is stuck between the two companies when he needs to complain about problems at work, “for instance incorrect pay or not getting hours through. Just Eat would refer you to Randstad, Randstad would refer you back to Just Eat.”
Just Eat’s Randstad partnership is an attempt to test a new model for the gig economy in the UK. As delivery apps struggle with staffing shortages and a new wave of legislation that is forcing them to assume more costs for their workforce, an entire sub-industry of staffing agencies are rushing to...
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