Evri said it had agreed a “ground-breaking” deal with the GMB union over pay for its courier drivers, which would give its self-employed workers access to paid sick leave.
Under the agreement, Evri’s eligible self-employed plus (SE+) couriers who are members of the union will receive ‘festive support’ payments of up to £950, fully subsidised death, disability, accidents and sickness insurance, and access to accountants for assistance with VAT returns.
Couriers not yet enrolled in its SE+ scheme have the opportunity to join starting from January 2025.
The announcement follows Evri’s launch of its SE+ courier model in 2019 and it said it remained the UK’s only union-backed courier initiative.
The scheme provides access to 28 days paid holiday, guaranteed national minimum wage, pension contributions, parental leave and additional flexible benefits.
Earlier this year, Evri also partnered with flexible benefits platform, Onsi, to enhance its offering to couriers, which included wellbeing support and financial management support which provides early access to wages.
Martijn De Lange, CEO of Evri said: “Our couriers are highly valued as the engine of our business.
“We’ve been proud to lead the industry in offering self-employed workers greater protection and benefits since 2019. This latest ground-breaking deal is a significant step forwards demonstrating our commitment to supporting couriers financially and with a raft of protection and benefits, including sick pay for our SE+ workers in an industry first.”
Gill Ogilvie, GMB lead organiser, said: “Securing sickness payments for thousands of couriers is a huge step forward.
“Once again GMB has shown the difference unions can make in the modern world of work.”
