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Hospitality recruitment app Supp calls gig-workers contractors. Some users say it leads to casual work without entitlements

From The Guardian · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • An Australian hospitality app, Supp, is facing scrutiny for classifying workers as independent contractors, potentially denying them entitlements like superannuation.
  • Workers using the app are required to have their own Australian Business Number (ABN) and are not treated as casual employees, despite performing tasks similar to traditional hospitality roles.
  • Critics argue this model could lead to widespread misclassification of workers, depriving them of benefits such as minimum pay rates, casual loading, and unfair dismissal protections.

Concerns are mounting over the popular Australian hospitality gig-work app Supp, which classifies its users as "independent contractors" rather than casual employees. This classification potentially deprives workers of crucial entitlements, including superannuation, mirroring issues seen with gig-economy delivery riders.

Launched in Melbourne in 2017, Supp operates as a jobs marketplace connecting hospitality businesses with workers for advertised shifts. The app, co-founded by Lune Croissanterie owners Kate and Cameron Reid, has expanded across Australia and the US, reportedly serving around 15,000 venues and 200,000 workers. Businesses pay workers through the app, with Supp charging a 12% service fee.

Hospitality workers coming in to do a barista shift – they don’t have autonomy.

— Daniel McBurnieA worker using the Supp app explains why he believes users are not independent contractors, citing lack of control over pay and hours.

However, Supp mandates that workers possess their own Australian Business Number (ABN) and are engaged as individual contractors. This has drawn criticism from users like Daniel McBurnie, who began investigating his superannuation entitlements for shifts worked through the app since 2021. McBurnie performed various roles, including bartending and waiting tables, for 15 different companies via Supp, but received no superannuation payments and found no mechanism within the app to facilitate such contributions.

"Hospitality workers coming in to do a barista shift – they don’t have autonomy," McBurnie stated. "They’re not setting their [pay] rate, they’re not setting their hours. They are reporting to a supervisor, they’re carrying out the tasks delegated to them." Casual employees typically receive benefits like minimum pay rates, casual loading, penalty rates, rest breaks, superannuation, and protection from unfair dismissal, obligations that Supp's contractor model appears to bypass.

They’re not setting their [pay] rate, they’re not setting their hours. They are reporting to a supervisor, they’re carrying out the tasks delegated to them.

— Daniel McBurnieMcBurnie further elaborates on the lack of autonomy experienced by workers using the Supp app.
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Originally published by The Guardian. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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