"Revealed: the Scottish Deliveroo riders earning less than minimum wage", 25 March 2021

Almost one in three Deliveroo riders in Scottish cities have been paid below the minimum wage for making food deliveries, according to data analysed by the Bureau Local and The Ferret. The delivery company claims its self-employed riders are paid more than £10 per hour on average and says rider satisfaction is at “an all-time high”. But analysis of crowd-sourced sample data from thousands of invoices uploaded by riders across the UK, suggest that 41 per cent are receiving less than the minimum wage of £8.72 per hour for those over 25. In Scotland 29 per cent of the riders who contributed their data received less than this amount...Some took home far less, with one in six getting less than £6.45 per hour.

Deliveroo claims the findings are “misleading” and says it is only “meaningful” to calculate rates of pay for deliveries completed, not the time between orders.

...The firm expects to be valued at up to £8.8bn when it lists its shares on the London stock market next month. But on 24 March Aviva Investors, one of the UK’s biggest investment firms, said it would not invest in Deliveroo as the company’s riders did not get the minimum wage, sick leave and holiday pay.

... Martin le Brech,  a student who works part-time for Deliveroo in Aberdeen, said that although he works “the best hours advertised by Deliveroo” – weekend evenings – “it’s pretty difficult to make minimum wage, let alone a living wage, as advertised”...“Having a guarantee of earning a minimum wage from the moment we log onto the app would provide us with much more safety, both financially and during the job.” He claimed riders should learn from the Supreme Court ruling last month that Uber Drivers should be considered as workers, not contractors, giving them greater rights and put pressure on the company to guarantee minimum earnings.