Uber, Deliveroo to face questions from select committee again

Senior executives from companies including Uber and Deliveroo will be summoned for more questioning over working conditions by parliament's Business select committee, its new chair said on Tuesday.

Labour MP Rachel Reeves said she wanted a second look at how the market operated for self-employed workers in the so-called “gig economy”.

Reeves said her committee would call executives from both Uber and Deliveroo as well as some of their workers — including those involved in court cases over their employment status.

She added that the cross-party group would also scrutinise the recent report by Matthew Taylor into modern working practices that demanded more safeguards for self-employed workers.

The report was criticised by trade unions as a “missed opportunity” by not going far enough in demanding full rights.

“I don’t really buy this idea that Deliveroo and Uber go down the self-employed model because it’s so great for the workers and that’s the only thing the workers want to do,” she told the Financial Times.

“There are clearly some big disadvantages to being self-employed in terms of missing out on certain rights.”

Taxi hailing app Uber and fast food delivery outfit Deliveroo have come under fire for describing employees as “independent contractors” to deny them access to benefits such as the minimum wage, sick pay or paid annual leave.

Uber lost an employment tribunal case case brought by two drivers who claimed they were not genuinely self-employed. In its critical verdict, the tribunal said the drivers should be guaranteed the minimum wage and other basic employment rights. The company is appealing the ruling.