MPs accuse Uber, Deliveroo and Amazon of manipulating workers

A UK parliamentary committee has accused several gig economy firms of manipulating drivers into signing away their employment rights, through the use of deliberately confusing contracts.

Uber, Deliveroo and Amazon were among those companies which faced the wrath of the committee, with several driver and courier contracts being described as "unintelligible".

Contracts provided by the companies were reviewed by the committee, with some going as far as including clauses which insist employees agree not to take them to court in potential disputes over self-employment status.

In a statement released by committee chair Frank Field, the Labour MP referred to an Uber contract he read as "gibberish". He also flippantly described the practice as "a marvellous business model if you can get away with it".

"These companies parade the ‘flexibility’ their model offers to drivers but it seems the only real flexibility is enjoyed by the companies themselves."

"My worry is that as a result these companies contribute little to the public purse or our social safety net," Field added. "They are not paying sick leave, National Living Wage, or contributing to pensions. Yet it seems likely that their employment practices will lead more people to need taxpayers to pick up these costs."

One former Deliveroo employee said that delivery drivers and back office staff were expected to work as full-time employees while clearly not receiving the benefits that go with it.

"The employment arrangements were not very clear and little was explained to us. We were basically told to build our entire lives around Deliveroo," the former employee said.