Guidelines for Delivery Riders to be Issued by DOLE

New guidelines surrounding the business arrangements between delivery apps and their riders are expected to be released by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

“Napakabagong labor relation. Apat ang involve na parties dito hindi kagaya ng ordinary employer-employee relationship,” (“This is a relatively new labor relation. It involves 4 parties, unlike the ordinary employer-employee relationship,”) explained DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

The four parties he mentioned involve the management of the delivery apps, the riders, the vendors, and the customers.

“Gagawa kami ng guidance o advisory kung paano ang patakaran nitong klaseng negosyo kasi hindi mo malaman kung sino employer. Sino ba ang employer at sino ang employee?” (“We will come up with an advisory or guidelines for this kind of business because we don’t know who the employer is. Who is the employer? Who is the employee?”)

“Sa America, sabi nila ang mga riders employee. Meron din kagaya ng France, Spain, Germany hindi yan mga employees, contractuals yan. Kaya ito bagong-bagong sistema dito at gagawa kami talaga ng advisory o guidance para matiyak natin na maayos,” (“In America, they say riders are employees. But in France, Spain, and Germany they say they’re not employees but contractual workers. This is a new system here and we will create an advisory to ensure that this is in order,”) Bello elaborated further.

The move from DOLE comes after the delivery riders of Foodpanda were suspended for 10 years when they expressed their disapproval of the app’s payment scheme.

Whether the suspended riders will be reinstated is still up for deliberation. DOLE and Foodpanda are expected to meet on July 26 to resolve the issue at hand.

Source: ABS CBN