DPD, which recently announced the appointment of up to 1,000 new drivers to cope with an increase in weekend deliveries, has now launched a new employment structure and wage targets for its drivers as part of a wider strategic review of the business.
The company has pledged that it will now pay all drivers a minimum of the Real Living Wage and will offer drivers the choice of employed, self-employed worker or self-employed franchisee contract.
Part of its new Driver Code the changes follow a widespread internal review and consultation with hundreds of its existing drivers.
The changes will come into force on July 2 and drivers are being briefed from now. The new worker contract is designed to generate driver earnings of £28,800 per annum on average, based on a standard five-day week contract, with no upper cap on earnings. In addition, workers will receive 28 days paid holiday, a pension and sick pay.
DPD has pledged that to ensure that all its self-employed drivers receive at least the equivalent of the Real Living Wage and will monitor and measure their earnings on a monthly basis to ensure that happens.
As part of the new agreement, DPD drivers will be able to start as an employed driver before deciding if they want to take the self-employed options. If they do go for the latter they will have access to free, independent business advice from approved suppliers.
The company is also scrapping its current breach system for self-employed drivers, replacing it instead with a points-based Service Failure System to monitor service delivery and contract performance.
Dwain McDonald, CEO of DPD, said the changes marked a ‘complete reappraisal’ of how the company was looking after its drivers. “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. The feedback we’ve already had from the depots suggests we are on the right track. Many of the ideas here have come directly from the meetings my team and I have had with drivers and their input has been vital throughout this process,” he said.
“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.”
Image credit: DPD
