PB July-August 2023 July-August 2023 15
Fast-food delivery
compnies Deliveroo nd
Jus E re dependen
in Irelnd on illegl
lbour h explois
inernionl sudens
who risk deporion by
working for hem
The inescpble logic of he
fs-food delivery plforms
insisence h heir riders
re self-employed is h
Smp 2 vis holders
cnno leglly be Uber Es,
Deliveroo or Jus E riders
T
he liveried bicyclists who zip past,
delivering fast food, are probably
working illegally.
The fast-food delivery platforms
operating in Ireland such as
Deliveroo and Just Eat are so dependent on
illegal labour to eect deliveries that flouting
Irish immigration and employment law is at
the very heart of their business model. These
companies are aware of the practices, but,
rather than enforce compliance with existing
law, and, for that matter, the terms of their
own service contracts, Deliveroo, in particular,
in a remarkable manifestation of arrogance,
has actually lobbied intensively to have Irish
employment law changed.
Many of the problems with the gig economy
are well rehearsed: exploitative rates of pay;
widespread tax non-compliance; dangerous
working conditions; and a lack of the social
protections that are due to most other workers.
The platform companies actively avoid their
responsibilities to their workers by
categorising riders as self-employed. This
categorisation has been challenged across
Europe with varying degrees of success as
dierences in national legislation make the
self-employment categorisation valid in some
countries (UK and Ireland), but unlawful in
others (Spain, Italy and the Netherlands).
However, Stamp 2 visas holders - students
from non-EU/EEA countries attending
approved full-time English-language or
NEWS
DeliverOhOh
By J Vivian Cooke
third-level courses – are only allowed to
engage in casual employment for less than 20
hours per week during college terms and for
no more than 40 hours per week outside of
college terms. Their visa conditions are
explicit: they are not permitted to engage in
business or trade. It is illegal for Stamp 2 visa
holders to be self-employed.
The inescapable logic of the fast-food
delivery platforms insisting that their riders
are self-employed is that Stamp 2 visa holders
cannot legally be Deliveroo, Just Eat or
UberEats riders.
Deliveroo, for one, acknowledges as much
in a series of documents released to Village
Magazine under a Freedom of Information
request. In May 2021, Deliveroo’s Country
Manager, Paddy Quinlan, wrote to the Minister
responsible, Leo Varadkar, looking to change
international students’ working permissions
because “It is increasingly clear that the law
prohibiting Stamp 2 visa holders from being
self-employed has presented a significant
challenge for international students”. When
Deliveroo CEO, Will Shu, met Varadkar later
that month, these illegal work practices were
one of the items that featured prominently on
their agenda; while the Department of
Enterprise’s records show that, at a further
meeting about the topic with Minister Damien
English on 18 October 2021, “They [Deliveroo]
also indicated that they had contacted the
Minister for Justice regarding limitations
imposed regarding working hours under
certain visa permission categories”.
Yet the use of illegal labour in the industry
is widespread and is facilitated by how
Deliveroo designs and operates its rider Apps.
Prospective platform riders must produce
documents confirming their identity and their
legal entitlement to work before they are
accepted as riders. However, lacking the
requisite permissions and paperwork, Stamp
2 visa holders cannot sign up to be riders
using their own identities. However, a feature
of Deliveroo and Just Eat’s rider Apps is that
approved riders are allowed to use their
profiles to appoint another person to complete
the account holder’s deliveries.
Nevertheless, neither Just Eat nor Deliveroo
asks to see or check the substitute riders’
documents when profile owners substitute
them.
Instead, Deliveroo warns its account
holders that “When working with a substitute
it’s your responsibility to check they have
valid right to work in Ireland. This includes a
valid Irish or EU passport, or the relevant
visas. There are often conditions to working
with visas, for example, people on Stamp 2
(student) visas are not eligible to work with
Deliveroo”.