• Unions have congratulated food delivery platform Menulog after it announced it will consider its contracted riders as full employees in a Sydney trial.
• The Transport Workers’ Union and the Australian Council of Trade Unions have both celebrated the announcement.
• The statements mark a rare sign of union support for a gig economy player, which often favour contractor-only business models.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Unions have offered rare praise for food delivery platform Menulog after its decision to consider contracted riders as full employees under a new trial, calling the program an alternative to the “exploitative” business models favoured through the industry.

Speaking before a Senate committee on Monday, Menulog CEO Morten Belling said the company will conduct a Sydney CBD trial providing riders with full entitlements not usually provided to independent contractors.

Those workers will be provided with a minimum hourly wage, Belling said, breaking with the industry’s standard per-delivery payment system.

Menulog riders will also be provided with superannuation, contributions, sick leave, and workers’ compensation, Belling added.

The company will also investigate how it can “bridge the gap” between its existing couriers, who currently operate as independent contractors, and a full employment model.

Citing the company’s “moral” responsibilities, Belling indicated the company’s decision was partially motivated by the deaths of five delivery riders on NSW roads over several months last year.

Those riders did not die while riding for Menulog, Belling said, “but when people start getting killed out there and hospitalised, that’s where we draw the line.”

In response, the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) said the trial highlighted the “deadly pressures of exploitative busines,” echoing the union’s long-running concern that the industry’s per-delivery payment model puts riders at risk.

“Minimum pay and rights for riders will break apart the dependent, exploitative relationship that forces riders to work quickly and dangerously over long hours just to put food on the table,” said TWU national secretary Michael Kaine.

The TWU will work with Menulog on the trial, Kaine added, with the union hoping the trial results in a “safe, fair and sustainable outcome” for workers.

The union’s uncommon statement of support was backed by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, whose secretary Sally McManus congratulated Menulog “for taking the step to finally accept their workers should have equal rights to all other Australian workers.”

The conditional praise was not mirrored by Greens leader Adam Bandt, who today said offering minimum wages in a trial program was no substitute for making those payments law.

Bandt’s parliamentary opponents in the Labor Party also champion a suite of tweaks to Australia’s industrial relations laws, which the party says would provide base-level entitlements to independent contractors.

While Menulog competitors Uber Eats and Deliveroo maintain they are open to the idea of minimum insurance standards for gig economy works, both firms staunchly reject calls to consider their workforce full employees, claiming riders enjoy the flexibility offered by current contracting arrangements.

Uber Eats has recently unveiled a new suite of safety features it hopes will keep riders safer on Australian roads.

The Labor-led Senate committee hearing continues Tuesday.

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