Praise as Worker Asked to Start at 8am Demands Raise for 'Unsociable Hours'

Standing up to bosses at work can be daunting, but a delivery driver has been backed for refusing to start work earlier without receiving extra money in return.

The owner of a meal delivery company posted on the U.K.-based advice forum Mumsnet, asking "who is out of order" after a disagreement with one of their delivery drivers.

The Mumsnet user, Fornical, explains in the post that they have several self-employed delivery drivers, but they're "having an issue with one in particular" who doesn't want to sacrifice her mornings or weekends for her $12 an hour salary.

A survey by Pew Research Center found that while many Americans enjoy their jobs, 30 percent felt their job was just getting them by and didn't view it as a career. The survey also highlighted that those in full-time employment felt more satisfied about finances, their family life and the work they carry out.

However, when it comes to knowing who they are and what work they are interested in, 62 percent of self-employed people said it gave them a sense of identity rather than something they're just doing to earn money.

The original poster [OP] wrote: "I've had one of my delivery drivers for over a year now. I pay her £10 per hour and 45 pence per mile. She drives from Essex to London to collect the deliveries, then back to Essex to deliver them every Saturday. She arrives to collect them at 9am.

"I text her asking for the next six weeks if she could be at pick up point at 8am rather than 9am."

This change in schedule wasn't appreciated by the delivery driver, who said they were "unsociable hours" and would mean waking her daughter up early on a Saturday. If she was expected to start work earlier on a Saturday morning, she wanted to up her rate to £15 ($18) an hour instead.

Business litigation attorney Richard Dreitzer suggests that different types of employment can have varying implications, and that if someone is self-employed they can be their own boss.

Dreitzer spoke to Newsweek about the ramifications for employers. He said: "If a delivery driver is an independent contractor, then the driver gets to dictate what the basics of their job will be.

"This would increase hourly rates for nights and weekends and the amount of money they will accept in order to do the job. The company doesn't control them the way they would an employee, so the company gets little or no say over how their work gets done."

Control Costs More

This might not be what the OP wants to know, but Dreitzer does point out that while the business has no control over employees without contracts, they are generally cheaper to hire. Essentially, if you want more control then it's going to cost more.

"The way for the frustrated business owner to look at it is they will save a ton of money if their drivers are independent contractors. What they give up in exchange for this savings is control of the aspects of the job they are concerned about," Dreitzer added.

The Mumsnet poster explains that the driver responded saying: "Let me know if you would be happy to go ahead with that or not. If you can't though don't worry, I understand."

Not sure how to take the driver's extra demands, the business owner asked if it's unfair of them to "think this is totally unreasonable and out of the blue?"

Other Mumsnet users provided their own perspectives on the employment situation. One person wrote: "She's self-employed. I wouldn't say she's being out of order as she can set her own fees. You don't have to pay it though. Presumably you can terminate your contract and hire someone else."

This person wasn't the only one in support of the worker, as someone else wrote: "You are changing the terms. She doesn't like them so is charging more. Fair enough on her part."

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