Vile Startup Charges Gig Workers to Get Paid on Time

"It feels like we're being held to ransom. It's so immoral it's unreal."

Skim off the Top

A company has brought a vile new twist on what a "payday" should be: now you, the lowly grunt, are the one that's paying.

This, The Guardian's sister publication The Observer reports, is what retail assistants have accused the gig economy platform YoungOnes of doing. Effectively, they say, it's holding their wages hostage by charging the retail workers a fee to receive their money quickly — or wait a whole month instead.

Under YoungOne's new payment system, the workers must fork over 4.8 percent of the money they made to be paid in one minute, or 2.9 percent to be paid in three days. If they don't pay the fee, the UK- and Netherlands-based startup forces them to wait around 30 days to receive their wages. According to the Oberver's reporting, workers previously got paid within three days without an extra charge.

 "People do gig work for short-term cash," Tom Gilliam, a 37-year-old gig worker in Manchester, told The Observer. "It feels like we're being held to ransom. It's so immoral it's unreal."

Gigsploitation

The alleged payment scheme is a stunningly bleak example of the exploitation that gig workers, which also include roles like Uber and Lyft drivers, are vulnerable to, enjoying few-to-none of the protections that employees do. 

As freelancers, gig workers aren't considered to be actual employees of the companies they work for. That usually means poorer wages, less job security, and less say (not to mention no healthcare in the US). They're at the mercy of not only their bosses, but the platform that "connects" them to their work.

Gillam said that some of his coworkers last week were still waiting to be paid for shifts in late November and early December. 

"They can't really badger their managers because working as a freelancer you have no voice, you might not get any more shifts if you are seen as outspoken," Gillam told The Observer.

"It is unfair for people working on a low wage with reduced rights to be charged to get their money quickly," added another colleague at Gillam's workplace.

Can't Be Choosers

YoungOnes CEO James Medd waved away the criticism by emphasizing that the freelancers aren't forced to pay the fees. "We deeply value the freelancers on our platform and understand the challenges they face, particularly when it comes to payment timelines," he told The Observer. "They have the freedom to decide when, where, and with whom they work."

Some UK lawmakers, though, aren't buying it. 

"We're deeply concerned that companies will try to get around the law and continue to exploit vulnerable workers by pretending they are self-employed when they should enjoy the full protection of the law," Member of Parliament Liam Byrne, who serves on the Labour government's chair of the business and trade committee, told The Observer.

Minister for employment rights Justin Madders said he would request an investigation into YoungOne's alleged practices. "We find it entirely unacceptable for employers to avoid their legal obligations by claiming someone is self-employed when they are not," Madders told The Observer. "Action that reeks of this exploitation is intolerable, and we will not hesitate to ask all relevant authorities to scrutinize such employers."

More on gig economy: A Shocking Number of Gig App Workers Were Murdered on the Job Last Year