Sharing economy food delivery company misclassified its riders
The sharing economy food delivery company Foodora Australia was charged with misclassifying a rider as an independent contractor and deny him an employment status. The Australian Fair Work Commission ruled that the rider was not carrying on a trade or business of his own, or on his own behalf. Instead, the rider was working for Foodora, his work was integrated into the sharing economy business and was not an independent operation. Despite the attempt to create the existence of an independent contractor arrangement, the rider was engaged as a rider for Foodora and, therefore, was an employee. The company has admitted that their riders were more likely to be employees than independent contractors, and therefore are entitled to more than $5 million in unpaid wages. This precedent can impact the workforce classification in other gig economies around the world, including Uber Eats and Deliveroo.