A parliamentary inquiry into the gig economy has accused companies such as Uber, Deliveroo and Amazon of tricking or forcing drivers and couriers into signing away their employment rights, with an MP describing the ride-hailing group’s contract as “gibberish”.
The work and pensions committee said that the companies had contracts requiring drivers and riders to accept that they were not workers and to agree not to challenge their self-employed status.
As a result, the companies were avoiding having to pay the national living wage, employer pension contributions or sick pay, thereby “contributing little to the public purse or our social safety net”.
Frank Field, Labour chairman of the committee, told The Times last night: “These companies are laughing all the way to the bank. They