Royal Mail is being sued for classifying Parcelforce (a Royal Mail subsidiary) delivery drivers as self-employed when they should in fact be workers. Marc Francis, one of the claimants in the case, said that after 10 years of working for Parcelforce he has “had enough”.
- the days they work (which are outlined in contracts with Parcelforce);
- the hours they work (as it is dependent on the number of packages given to them by Parcelforce each morning);
- or even the route they take (determined by the company’s Route Excellence computer system).
Alarmingly the self-employed drivers are charged fees if they call in sick. One driver was asked to pay £764 for the cost of an agency worker who covered while he was off sick, and another claimant was allegedly forced to pay almost £1500 to cover his route when he could not work for two weeks. On another occasion, when the planned cover did not turn up for a shift, the claimant received a letter from Parcelforce threatening to terminate his contract.
Furthermore, owner drivers do not get paid for parcels that are not delivered successfully, despite drivers spending time and fuel to attempt the delivery, and can see their pay confiscated if they fail to deliver within strict one-hour time windows determined by Parcelforce’s computer system.
The drivers’ complaint was originally lodged with the IWGB union but the case has now been taken on by solicitor Leigh Day. The legal firm said that it believed the problems faced by the drivers were endemic across Parcelforce and that it hoped to launch a wider group claim in future.
A Parcelforce spokesperson said:
“All of our owner drivers are self-employed and we refute any claims that this is not the case. Our self-employed drivers play a valuable role in delivering parcels in the UK and are free to provide their services to other businesses. Our owner drivers can choose whether to personally make deliveries and collections or arrange for other drivers to do them. We are unable to comment on an ongoing legal claim.”
The legal firm, Leigh Day, leading the case has significant experience in employment status having worked on behalf of almost 4000 Uber drivers. If you are self-employed Parcelforce driver and think you might have a claim, you can find out more here.
