In addition to the statutory overtime pay, many companies also provided some additional overtime rewards to employees who stayed on the spot for the Chinese New Year. However, the reporter learned on February 19 that some riders publicly questioned the platform’s temporary increase in rider orders, disguised as a reduction in overtime rewards. In response, Ele.me responded that after returning to work after the year, the number of takeaway orders began to pick up, so the order requirements have increased compared with the Spring Festival holiday, which is not a malicious reduction in rewards.
Recently, Mr. Yu, a rider at Ele.me, broke the news that Ele.me has launched additional year-end incentives in addition to the subsidy for each order during the Spring Festival, which are divided into seven periods, each lasting seven days. "The order volume of each issue in the first five periods is generally more than 200 orders, but the order volume of the sixth period has risen to 360 orders." Mr. Yu said: "I think this number has risen too much, and it is estimated that more than half of the riders may not be able to complete it."
So is this the platform maliciously increasing the order volume of riders and reducing the additional overtime reward in disguise? What is the reason for the platform to increase the order volume?
In response to the Beijing Daily client side reporter, Ele.me said that due to various factors such as the New Year’s Day, the average daily order volume of the platform was originally different. After the year, the order volume began to recover rapidly, and the order volume of riders in the next few days will also increase. In addition, the order volume set for this activity was originally floating rather than fixed.
According to the introduction, riders can get rewards if they complete more than 3 stages in total. The more cycles they complete, the more rewards they will get. Those who complete all 7 cycles can get the highest reward. That is to say, not all riders can get a unified highest reward.
"Taking the Beijing area as an example, riders can get 3,400 yuan for completing five phases, 5,250 yuan for six phases, and 8,200 yuan for all seven phases," said the relevant person in charge of Ele.me.
Regarding the controversial Phase 6 event, Ele.me explained that the order volume was low before and during the festival, but with the end of the holiday and the arrival of the working day, the platform’s order volume rebounded significantly, and the subsequent order volume also increased.
"We will evaluate each activity plan according to the actual business situation. At present, we are making adjustments to the feedback from riders, and we will also optimize the standards for the next activity according to the order volume of the platform," said the person in charge of Ele.me.
However, the reporter also noticed that the root cause of the controversy is still the opacity of information. It is the platform that really masters big data. If the expected order volume range of each issue is properly announced at the beginning of the incentive policy, it will undoubtedly avoid contradictions and better protect the rights and interests of workers.