The work and pensions select committee have said Uber’s contracts for drivers are written in “gibberish”, leaving many of their workers unaware of their rights and obligations.
Frank Field, chair of the MP committee, said: “Quite frankly the Uber contract is gibberish.”
“They are well aware that many, if not most, of their drivers speak English as a second language – they recently lost a court case trying to escape Transport for London’s new English testing rules for private hire drivers – yet their contract is almost unintelligible,” he continued.
Uber is one of several businesses operating in the ‘gig economy’ that have come under scrutiny from the committee, in a row as to whether they can legally call their drivers self-employed workers. Field said Uber, Deliveroo and Amazon all used some kind of “egregious clause”, preventing workers from challenging their “self-employed” title.
“The way they work looks in most ways an awful lot like being employed,” Field said. “These companies parade the “flexibility” their model offers to drivers but it seems the only real flexibility is enjoyed by the companies themselves. It does seem a marvellous business model if you can get away with it.”
The news comes just one day after the Guardian reported that Deliveroo gave a document to its managers detailing how the job should be described to couriers. The six-page guidance document says the drivers should be referred to as “independent suppliers” – making them self-employed workers – rather than as employees.
The application process at a recruitment centre must be called “onboarding” at a “supply centre”, with riders’ giving their “availability” rather than being given shifts.
The way companies such as Uber and Deliveroo employ workers has become increasingly controversial. Several companies, including Uber and courier firm CitySprint, have lost cases in court with tribunals ruling that the workers were employees, rather than self-employed, and were therefore entitled to holiday and sick pay. Uber have since won the right to appeal the decision.