MPs table motion to end unfair app-based minicab and courier firm dismissals

There are fresh calls, this time from MPs, for app-based minicab and courier firms to end the process of unfair dismissals.

36 MPs tabled an Early Day Motion entitled ‘Dismissals of app-based courier and private hire workers’ on 9 November.

The Primary sponsor of the motion, Labour’s Liverpool West Derby MP, Ian Byrne, has enlisted the support of multiple MPs including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

In the motion it states: “That this House condemns the opaque and unjust process by which app-based couriers and private hire drivers working for companies such as UBER and Deliveroo can be blocked permanently from their accounts and thus effectively dismissed from their jobs.”

The motion goes on state that couriers and private hire drivers are ‘key workers’ who have and continue to work during the COVID-19 pandemic and are often putting their own health at risk in the process.

In the statement, the motion recognises that the practice of dismissal is leaving many workers on low-incomes facing ‘potential destitution’ and notes that transparency is lacking both in terms of what is expected of workers in those industries and around the reasons for their dismissal.

MPs supporting the motion are now calling for all app-based companies to end unfair dismissals by implementing fair dismissal processes, including a hearing prior to dismissal, and the right to appeal a dismissal with union representation.