DPD drivers to choose employment terms

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DPD has pledged to enable all its drivers to choose how they are employed, and to pay at least the Real Living Wage, as well as pension, paid holiday and sick pay.

Following a strategic review, the parcel delivery company that services Asos, River Island and Matalan, among others, is launching the Driver Code, which will allow employees to choose how they contract with DPD. They can be directly employed, a self-employed franchisee or a self-employed worker.

The new worker contract is designed to generate average driver earnings of £28,800 a year, based on a standard five-day week contract, without an upper cap on earnings. In addition, workers will receive 28 days’ paid holiday, a pension and sick pay.

To ensure that all its self-employed drivers receive at least the equivalent of the Real Living Wage, DPD will monitor and measure their earnings on a monthly basis.

The Real Living Wage is based on what people need to live on and is currently £8.75/hour across the UK and £10.20/hour in London.

This process will be independently audited by one of the UK’s leading financial audit organisations.

All DPD drivers will be briefed individually on the new measures, which come into force on 2 July.

Dwain McDonald, CEO of DPD, said: “The Driver Code represents a complete reappraisal of every aspect of our driver package. Our aim is simple: to make DPD the carrier of choice for delivery drivers and for our drivers to be the best rewarded in the industry.

“I think the new worker contract is a great package and it will set the benchmark in our industry. But we’ve made it very clear that we think it should be about driver choice: there are three great ways to contract with DPD now and drivers are free to choose which one suits them best.”