In a huge shift for the food delivery industry, Menulog has brought us some extremely positive news.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, food delivery company Menulog will be directly hiring many of their courier drivers, giving their workers “rights to a minimum wage and superannuation contributions”. They’ll also be the first to do so.
As per the Sydney Morning Herald, the current model not only allows food delivery companies – including Uber and Deliveroo to pay less than the minimum wage set for the industry, they’ve also been under fire from unions for a while now.
This new employment arrangement which Menulog is pioneering is absolutely set to shake up the industry, turning the independent contractor model on its head.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, on Monday the company’s managing director, Morten Belling stated at a Senate inquiry that “business would start a pilot employment program for couriers around Sydney’s CBD.”
Referencing the recent deaths of food delivery drivers in the recent years, Belling said, “This hasn’t happened specifically on Menulog but when people start getting killed out there and hospitalised, that’s where we draw the line. He continued, “It doesn’t really matter if they get killed on the Menulog platform or another platform, we play in the same industry. And we don’t want to be part of that. So yes, it may cost us more, but it’s the right thing to do.”
In October last year, two food delivery riders in Sydney tragically died, raising concerns about work safety practices in the sector across Australia.
While the food delivery companies have for too long now operated within a very opaque grey area, this shift sends a positive message for the rest of the industry, hopefully with more constructive and mindful changes to be brought about soon.
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Check out Menulog’s iconic commercial with Snoop Dogg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwmU4njJIBY
