iFood proposes progressive Social Security rate for delivery people

After an impasse in negotiations with the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) and inconsistent speeches by Minister Luiz Marinho against the company, iFood says it is willing to resume negotiations on the regulation of deliveries via app.

“We regret Minister Marinho’s unfortunate speech, as it does not reflect, in any way, what iFood is,” he told People’s Gazette the company’s vice president of Public Policy, Lucas Pittioni.

The minister had classified the iFood model as “highly exploitative”, during the launch of the bill that regulates the work of drivers per platform, in early March. Marinho criticized delivery apps for not reaching an agreement for regulation.

iFood denies that negotiations are stuck due to an impasse in dialogue. Behind-the-scenes investigations by the press revealed that, after Marinho’s speech, iFood was claiming another negotiation channel.

“We have defended regulation since 2021 and are available to negotiate with the government. We never fail to respond to invitations to participate in meetings or conversations”, says Pittioni. “We are waiting for the Ministry of Labor to resume conversations with the platforms and workers to find out how the negotiations will go.”

iFood says it is not viable to fit delivery drivers into the standard INSS rules

To resolve the main obstacle in the discussion, the pension model, the company defends a format suited to the specific characteristics of the delivery man’s job, different from drivers.

Pittioni says that the government’s initial proposal to adopt the General Pension Regime would need to be revised. The general regime establishes a minimum monthly contribution based on the traditional working day of the worker with an employment contract to obtain social security benefits.

According to the government’s proposal, delivery drivers would have to contribute the minimum monthly amount to a rate of 7.5%, which is R$105.90. But, according to the iFood executive, only 7% of delivery people would reach this contribution due to the fewer hours worked and, consequently, lower income.

“The rest of the delivery drivers would have to work more than twice as much as they do today,” he says. “It is not viable to include self-employed workers in a regime created to serve those who are CLT.”

Without reaching the minimum contribution of R$105.90 per month to Social Security, the worker will not have access to INSS benefits. As a result, he will prefer to work informally rather than make a smaller contribution that does not cover him, predicts Pittioni: “It wouldn’t make sense for him to be taxed with social security contributions and not have access to benefits. He will continue working with deliveries, but informally, without any type of social protection”.

Alternatives are a progressive or shared pension model

For iFood, a progressive pension model would be more inclusive, with different rates by earnings range, along the lines of domestic worker contributions or Income Tax.

“In this scenario, those who earn less would collect less for Social Security, they would have a lower rate. For those with higher earnings, a higher rate could be applied”, explains Pittioni.

Another alternative may be to add the companies’ contributions to the workers’ contributions to make up the minimum contribution. “Part or all of the percentage that the platforms will pay to the government can be used to supplement the delivery boy’s payment”, he says.

The idea is to reach “minimum consensus” so that there is a proposal that meets the specificities. “[Uma proposta] that effectively protects workers and provides them with social security, while at the same time providing legal security so that platforms can continue investing and innovating”, says the spokesperson.

Congress has at least 19 projects to regulate deliveries

The dispute involving delivery drivers is not new. There are at least 19 projects in the National Congress on the subject awaiting consideration. The majority were presented during the new coronavirus pandemic, seeking to protect financial assistance for workers.

The topic gained relevance due to the large number of people who sought additional income in app activities. It was like this with the drivers and, even more so, with the delivery people, due to the low capital required for the activity.

There are couriers who work with motorcycles, others with bicycles and even without them, using public transport. On iFood alone, there are 250,000 registered delivery people who make at least one delivery per month through the platform, serving more than 40 million consumers.

According to data from the Economic Research Institute Foundation (Fipe), iFood’s activities generate 873 thousand jobs throughout the entire platform chain, with an impact of 0.53% on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Delivery regulation is necessary, experts say

For experts heard by the People’s Gazettelabor regulation and the inclusion of delivery drivers in Social Security is even more relevant than that of drivers as they are a vulnerable category.

“These people on motorcycles do not have the same remuneration as transport drivers. Therefore, they are resistant to any social security discount. However, in addition to being denied retirement benefits by the INSS, they also have more accidents and end up overloading the SUS [Sistema Único de Saúde]”, says lawyer and labor consultant Eduardo Pastore. “Cases of absence due to injury, disability or even death end up burdening the State. They have to have protection.”

iFood says it offers a series of benefits to couriers, including life insurance, for temporary injury or disability, as well as exclusive coverage for couriers. “Delivery drivers already have average incomes above the minimum that was presented in the working group [do MTE] and iFood has periodically readjusted the rates paid to these workers”, says Pittioni.

In Eduardo Pastore’s understanding, companies must have the responsibility for promoting workers’ social security contributions and controlling payment. An alternative is to place the category as Individual Micro Entrepreneur (MEI), which provides for contributions starting at a rate of 5% on income. “Negotiations can move forward in this direction”, he believes.

The Brazilian Mobility and Technology Association (Amobitec), one of the delivery drivers’ representatives who participated in the negotiation table, said, in a statement, that it remains open to negotiations. But he highlighted the “particularities of the delivery“, such as the average level of engagement in applications by two-wheeled professionals, much lower than that of drivers. “This factor impacts earnings and regular contributions to Social Security”, states the statement.

For José Ronaldo Souza, professor at Ibmec-RJ, any regulatory initiative must prevent the stagnation of the activity which, due to its low cost, allows the entry of people who have no income or capital.

“The contribution range that makes this service unfeasible is much lower than that of drivers. So, if you make a mistake in this amount, and it is very easy to make a mistake, you will make a business that has benefited the lower layers unviable. It will penalize a population of even lower income”, he states.