Fashion retailer Urban Outfitters, bedding specialist Dreams and the operator of several Royal Parks cafes have all been criticized for using the Temper app to recruit staff, some of whom may end up earning less than the minimum wage.
The TUC is urging the government to deliver promised reforms to protect gig economy workers amid concerns that those hired by apps like Temper are missing out on important employment rights including sick pay, breaks, holiday pay and a minimum hourly rate.
He suggested that these types of applications are giving rise to false freelance roles. “We find it difficult to see how positions such as shop assistant can be carried out on their own,” the union body stated.
A year ago, several major chains including Lush and Uniqlo stopped using apps such as Temper and the now-defunct YoungOnes to hire freelancers, after outrage over the expansion of the gig economy in the retail sector.
Last week, Outernet, the central London digital arts and music venue – which advertised temporary “cloakroom hosts” for £13 an hour on Temper – said it had removed jobs from the site after being contacted by The Guardian. “This was the first time we used this site and we will not do so again,” a spokesperson said.
The continued use of Temper by retailers and cafes indicates that freelancing continues to extend beyond delivery workers, such as Deliveroo riders, to store staff, baristas and warehouse workers.
Charges imposed by Temper to ensure quick payment (borne by 80% of users according to the app) mean that some workers may receive less than the legal minimum wage for those over 21, of £12.21 an hour. Self-employed workers are not guaranteed minimum wage, unlike employees.
In recent weeks, Urban Outfitters has been advertising a number of roles paying £12.50 an hour, including a stock assistant to help with annual stock in Exeter and sales assistants in Gateshead and Birmingham. This latter location has 70 reviews, suggesting it is a regular user of the service.
Workers taking on Urban Outfitter roles who want to be paid in less than 14 days must pay the 2.9% rate, reducing their hourly wage to £12.14, seven pence an hour less than the legal minimum wage for those aged 21 and over.
It was a similar story at Colicci Cafe, a family business that runs cafes in London’s Royal Parks, including Richmond Park, where in recent weeks it was offering as little as £12.50 an hour for barista shifts. Anyone who does not want to wait up to 30 days to receive payment would have to pay the Temper rate, which would put their hourly wage below the legal minimum for most workers.
Urban Outfitters and Colicci did not respond to requests for comment.
Dreams has announced a number of posts in recent weeks, including two paying £12.71 an hour, one of which involves helping delivery drivers load and unload deliveries at customers’ homes and another to receive and dispatch deliveries at its warehouse until 11pm. It has also offered a delivery driver role for £15.14.
However, those who do not wish to wait up to 60 days to receive payment must pay the 2.9% fee to Temper, which reduces their salary to £12.35 and £13.68 per hour, as they must pay the fee to Temper to be paid shortly after their shift.
Dreams declined to comment.
Temper has a “free security” insurance plan that covers sick pay, but falls short of the protections workers would be entitled to if they were employed. Temper workers must have worked through the app at least 10 times within the previous three months to receive sick pay, and will only receive such payments after being off work for more than two weeks.
Currently, statutory sick pay for employees comes into effect after three days and from the first day from April under new rights guaranteed in the Employment Rights Act.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said: “Cynical employers should not be able to exploit loopholes in the law to deny workers adequate wages and conditions. The landmark Employment Rights Act will bring welcome new protections. But without action against bogus self-employment, bad employers will make greater use of loopholes and talent platforms to deny workers their rights.”
Temper, which says it is getting 1,000 new sign-ups a week through word of mouth, said in a statement: “We completely refute the comment that Temper constitutes ‘fake’ self-employment.”
It said workers who signed up on its site could enjoy better protections than those on zero-hour contracts, including compensation of half what they would have earned on a shift if it was canceled with less than 48 hours’ notice.
“Everyone who works through Temper does so as a freelancer, and this is clear upon registration and throughout the app (for both individuals and companies). It is also the reality of how the platform and the people who work through Temper operate: they choose which shifts to request (or not), they negotiate payment, they are free to work for multiple clients and platforms, and they have the right to hire a substitute to complete a shift.
“We are committed to remaining fully compliant with UK employment law. If there are any changes to the definitions of worker status in the future, we will of course adapt our platform and model to remain fully compliant.
“Many people value the flexibility of freelancing, and the challenge for policymakers is to balance flexibility with fairness.”
Temper said it set a “minimum” of £12.50 per hour, before fees, for hiring workers through its app and this would rise to £13 for all shifts from February 1. He said applicants were free to negotiate rates if they believed they were too low and could be hired full-time without any charge.
