United Kingdom: delivery firm Hermes sets aside support fund for gig workers amid coronavirus outbreak

German delivery firm Hermes announced on 6 March that it would set aside a £1 million (€1.15m) support fund for its 15,000 independent delivery workers in the UK, in the event that they have to self-isolate because of the coronavirus. Martijn De Lange, CEO at Hermes UK, says: “It is simply the right thing to do and I hope that other organisations will follow our lead.” The group has also pledged to help its self-employed delivery workers to find a replacement if necessary and has committed to ensuring they can continue to work the same rounds when they return to work. Hermes’ so far unprecedented stance has been hailed by trade unions, who are concerned about the fate of gig economy workers, since workers in this sector are not entitled to sick pay and can therefore be hit hard if they need to stop working for any reason. Worse still is that many may refuse to self-isolate and could spread the virus. The UK government – which made an emergency amendment to the country’s labour law so that workers receive sick pay from their first day of absence (see article n°11700) but had refused to introduce any special measures for gig workers – revealed on Friday the introduction of financial aid for the 5 million independent workers in the country as well as employees who are not entitled to sick pay. On the employer side, Deliveroo is understood to be considering following the example of Hermes, while Uber is thought to be in talks with insurance group Axa to extend coverage for its drivers in the event they need to go into quarantine.