Allegations of exploitative working practices at one of the UK’s largest delivery firms are to be considered by an influential parliamentary committee after Hermes couriers claimed they had been told to accept pay cuts or lose their delivery rounds.
The allegation is one of a series referred to the business, energy and industrial strategy committee by the shadow secretary of state for employment rights, Andy McDonald, who spoke to several Hermes couriers and depot managers after the Guardian revealed many had felt compelled to do unpaid work during the pandemic.
McDonald said his office had heard claims the firm told some couriers their rates per delivery were to be cut – and that their livelihoods depended on them accepting because other couriers would simply be given their rounds if they refused.
He urged the committee’s chair, the Labour MP Darren Jones, to investigate further once MPs have had a chance to consider the evidence.
In a letter seen by the Guardian, McDonald said workers had claimed that, despite positive Covid cases, at least one depot “stayed open and wasn’t sanitised, just went on as if nothing had happened”. Moreover, he said he had gathered evidence of a “packet racket”, in which couriers said the customer pays for sending a large item, but the courier is only paid for delivering a small one.
The Guardian reported last month that some Hermes couriers, who are paid per delivery, said they felt compelled to help sort parcels for no pay so they could start their rounds on time. McDonald cited evidence from a depot manager who said this had been caused by Hermes refusing to provide the money to hire sufficient sorters at some of its subcontracted delivery units.
And he quoted another courier as saying they felt they had to work up to 14 hours some days, along with the inherent risk of catching Covid while they went door to door.
“It is an outrage that working people are receiving no recompense for hours of their labour, or seeing enforced reductions to their pay with the threat of redundancy,” McDonald wrote.
“It is clear that bogus self-employment, inadequate employment protections and a lack of enforcement action are enabling these exploitative employment practices.
“With many drivers across the gig economy, along with other key workers, having spent the past year putting their lives on the line to keep our country going through the Covid pandemic, whilst the companies that they work for have raked in vast profits, it is only…
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