DPD UK today unveiled plans to introduce a new ‘self-employed worker’ contract for delivery drivers that will include paid annual leave, pension and sick pay under a major strategic review of its operation.
The new status is expected to form part of a wider DPD Driver Code, which the firm will roll out later this year. The company operates more than 8,000 vehicles from 56 locations and delivers over 230 million parcels a year.
Outlining the main change, DPD said it will become the first parcel delivery company in the UK to introduce a self-employed worker contract. This will offer drivers a new choice between being directly employed by DPD or working with the company on a self-employed franchise basis.
Drivers on the self-employed contract will receive some of the protections of being employed, including paid annual leave, pension entitlement and sick pay, but will also be able to realise the benefits of being self-employed, by having a higher earning potential and greater flexibility and choice over how they work, the company explained.
When the new worker category is launched, DPD will be offering all current employed and self-employed drivers the opportunity to switch to worker status. All those who work for DPD will be given an annual opportunity to apply to change their employment status between employed, worker and self-employed franchisee.
The change will only take place after they have received detailed advice at DPD's expense, so each driver is making an informed choice and clearly understands what they are committing to and what benefits they may or may not receive, in order to ensure that their employment status works for them, the company emphasised.
The measures are part of a strategic review of operations which has included consultation with DPD drivers from across the UK, as well as independent external advice from Lord Watts, the former chairman of the Labour Parliamentary Party and Iain Wright, the former chair of the parliamentary Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee.
Dwain McDonald, DPD's CEO commented: "We recognise that we need to improve the way we work with our drivers. While the self-employed franchise scheme has benefitted thousands of drivers over the past 20 years, it hasn't moved with the times and needs updating. Our plan is to completely transform our overall driver offer, as well as the day-to-day working relationship we have with our drivers. I've been visiting our depots and talking to our drivers and the package of measures we are developing will be a direct result of those conversations.
"At the moment, we have drivers who are self-employed and those that are employed directly by DPD. While the vast majority of our self-employed drivers tell us they want to remain self-employed, we want to provide them with a choice of options, including the new worker status. We are looking at all aspects of how we work with our drivers at the moment, and I'm consulting closely with both our drivers and our external advisers Lord Watts and Iain Wright to make sure these changes are fair for all our drivers, and we will announce more details later in the spring."
Meanwhile, DPD confirmed that the current breach system for self-employed drivers, which includes the £150 charge for failing to provide service, will be scrapped completely and replaced by a new, more consistent and transparent points-based service failure system.
This latter move follows the death last December of a seriously ill driver, Don Lane, who had allegedly missed hospital appointments due to work pressure and fear of losing pay. This was widely reported in the British media and led to criticism of the company’s driver system.
