Australian hospitality app Supp criticised over classifying workers as contractors
Australia's hospitality gig-work app Supp is facing criticism for classifying workers as independent contractors rather than casual employees, potentially depriving them of superannuation and other entitlements. The company denies any allegations of misrepresenting employment relationships.
Since launching in Melbourne in 2017, the hospitality gig-work app Supp has connected businesses such as cafes and bars with workers for ad-hoc shifts at an hourly rate. It was founded by Kate and Cameron Reid, owners of Lune Croissanterie, who still hold a financial stake but no longer sit on the board. The company says it is now used by around 15,000 venues and 200,000 workers across Australia and the US.
Businesses pay workers through the app, with Supp charging a 12% service fee. However, the platform requires workers to hold their own ABN and classifies them to hiring businesses as individual contractors rather than casual employees.
Concerns over lost entitlements
Worker Daniel McBurnie, who took on bartending, popcorn-selling and table-waiting shifts through Supp for 15 different companies since 2021, began investigating whether he was owed superannuation. He said he never received any such payments and that the app had no mechanism for businesses or workers to record this information. McBurnie argued that workers in these roles have no real autonomy over pay rates or hours and follow instructions from supervisors, characteristics typical of an employment relationship rather than contracting.
Casual employees in Australia are entitled to protections that contractors are not, including minimum pay rates, penalty rates, rest breaks, superannuation and protection from unfair dismissal. Misrepresenting an employment relationship as contracting, known as "sham contracting", is illegal and can carry penalties of up to $546,000 for large businesses.
Company response
Supp's chief executive, Jordan Murray, rejected any suggestion of misrepresenting the working relationship or sham contracting, saying the company works with regulators and adapts the platform as laws evolve. Co-founder Cameron Reid said Supp undergoes regular legal compliance reviews.
Imogen Szumer, a senior associate at law firm Maurice Blackburn, said how a platform labels a relationship does not determine its legal status, and such arrangements deserve close scrutiny. Several other workers who used Supp told Guardian Australia they had not received superannuation either. Pat O'Donnell of the United Workers Union voiced concern over the growing "gigification" of hospitality work. McBurnie has called on the Fair Work Ombudsman to independently audit the platform.
