Apps don’t even pay the minimum wage, says survey – 07/25/2023 – Market

The largest delivery, transport and other platforms do not guarantee payment of R$ 6 per hour, shows a new report on Brazil by the Fairwork project, based in Oxford. The amount is below the national minimum wage, R$ 1,320.

Only the delivery platform created under the promise of fair remuneration AppJusto and the domestic services app Parafuzo meet the criteria chosen by the survey.

No app manages to pay the minimum wage considered necessary by Dieese (Interunion Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies), currently equivalent to R$ 6,676.11 (five minimum wages). This level would be worth an extra point to the platform in the Fairwork criteria.

99 guaranteed payment of at least one minimum wage in 2021 application drivers nationally, which gave the company a point in the fair remuneration category. Lost the score in the current edition of the report due to payment punctuality problems.

Also evaluated were: Americanas Flash Delivery, GetNinjas, iFood, Lalamove, Loggi, Rappi and Uber. Like the 99, they were left without any points for not meeting the minimum criteria for remuneration, conditions, contracts, management and fair representation of workers —each criterion is worth two points.

According to Fairwork, no platform in Brazil promotes fair working conditions in Brazil, organizing training and supplying equipment to ensure the safety and health of its workers.

Only AppJusto achieved three points out of a possible ten. The researchers heard eight to ten workers from each company to arrive at the assessment indicated in the report between July 2022 and July of this year.

Still, apps gained points compared to the report released in 2021, when three apps scored, but the highest grades were two points.

For professor at the University of Toronto Rafael Grohmann, coordinator of the research in the country, the improvement in the result is a reflection of pressure from uberized workers’ movements and the discussion of this form of work by the government.

The 2021 edition evaluated UberEats, which stopped working in March 2022. Americanas Flash Delivery, Lalamove, Loggi, AppJusto and Parafuzo were evaluated for the first time.

The highest scorer, AppJusto, was created in 2021 in the wake of the mobilizations of couriers organized at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The inspiration would have come during the Greg News episode about Delivery, published on April 17, 2020.

The platform adopts a standard, in which a ride costs BRL 10 up to 5 km and an additional BRL 2 per additional kilometer. From this amount, the financial transaction fee set at 5% is deducted. Marketplace remuneration also comes from the establishment.

The app, however, has only 2,700 registered couriers, against 200,000 for iFood. It still fails on issues such as freedom of association and support for health and safety.

AppJusto’s performance demonstrates that it is possible to offer better conditions, but that much progress still needs to be made, says Grohmann.

The other platform that guarantees fair remuneration, Parafuzo, operates in 160 cities and has more than 5,000 registered workers. Customers can also hire Parafuzo’s services on the Casas Bahia marketplace.

Parafuzo did not score in the fair contract criterion because, despite claiming to promote anti-discrimination policies, it would not have presented evidence of implementing measures to reduce inequality on the platform. There is also no transparency about the functioning of the algorithm.

AppJusto is an example of transparent contracts with its couriers, according to the study. Maintains a page with an explanation of how you pay for the service. Drivers still have autonomy to define the value of the service and other conditions in contact with the customer and the restaurant.

Last week, iFood announced changes to seven clauses of its contract to conform to Fairwork’s criteria for a fair contract.

wanted by Sheet, iFood claims that it is part of the working group created by the federal government to discuss the regulation of work intermediated by apps. According to the platform, most of the axes of the Fairwork Brasil report are included in the WG discussions.

“In July of this year, we increased the gain by 4.5% — it is the third consecutive year with readjustments, and we are the first Brazilian company to support the Ethos Letter-Commitment on Decent Work on Digital Platforms”, says iFood.

Fairwork researchers spoke with a Rio de Janeiro delivery person from Loggi, who asked to have his name withheld. He said that remuneration has decreased a lot since the beginning of the pandemic.

“A car delivery that was ten packages for a hundred and something reais, now comes with 40 packages for R$50. It became a mess! Loggi started paying very poorly”. says John.

In the Fairwork methodology, researchers calculate a score for each application based on quantitative and qualitative research. Companies have 15 days to respond with adjustments.

In response to the report, Uber claims that the FairWork document lacks scientific rigor. “Uber clarifies that it did not participate in the report and presented its problems more than six months ago, when it was invited by representatives of Fairwork Brasil to collaborate with the initiative.”

“The survey does not consider, for example, the premise of flexibility that drivers have to decide when and how much to drive and which travel requests they want to meet or refuse”, says Uber.

The Digital Innovation Movement, in which 99, Loggi, GetNinjas, Parafuzo and Americanas participate, said in a note that it seeks to reach a sustainable solution through dialogue between companies, representatives of professionals and the government. The group also participates in discussions with the federal government.

Parafuzo, based on the dialogue with Fairwork, adopted an insurance program for personal and life accidents resulting from these accidents for all day laborers and assemblers who use the platform. “We publish security information and improve real-time support channels and ombudsman to receive and deal with concerns, complaints or suggestions”, says the application in a note sent to Sheet.

Wanted, AppJusto, Americanas Delivery Flash, Loggi, GetNinjas, Lalamove and 99 did not respond until the publication of this report.