Zero hours contract - AI/Automation taking away work/hours.

AdamPD

Hi all,

So I've been working for a company remotely doing content moderation for almost 3 years now.

I only get paid the minimum wage, plus a top up that counts as holiday pay.

Everything has been fine and I never thought I'd run into this issue with this particular job, as there's been people doing this moderation job for over a decade in some places, but here's what's happened.

Earlier in the year we were all told a new moderation platform was coming out, then in April we received a "Exciting news!" email from our manager, explaining the system was going live soon.

It would mean easier and faster moderation and an increased work load

At this time there was concern from some of us about the low amount of work to do, so it was mentioned twice in this email the workload would increase.

On the old site you would be paid for how long you spent moderating, but on the new site it was £10.42 per 180 items moderated.

Fast forward to August and we're now all on this new platform.

What they didn't tell us in this "exciting news" email was that an automation (AI) system was going to handle nearly 60-70% of all the work we do.

So our workload, spread across all moderators has gone from slim, to scraps and it's no longer possible to make any kind of an income unless we spend 8 hours to earn £10.42 (We're paid £10.42 for 180 items moderated).

I started at 8am, been refreshing the page and around 4pm I had done 201 items.

I sent in an email with my concerns and got back a response which basically said "We're sorry you're not happy, yes the AI is doing a lot of the work that was once moderated".

So I sent a diplomatic response saying we were told more work would be available when it was launched, but no reply.

I guess there's not much I can do other than look for work, is there?
I just can't believe companies treat their staff like this, especially those who've been working for them for over a decade.

Brie

So are you saying that you moved from an hourly wage (NMW+holiday pay) to piece work?  Am I in thinking its impossible to do this at the same pace as previously and get paid the same amount for the same length of working day?

If you are saying that you have worked a full day of 8 hours and are being paid £10.42 then I believe they are acting illegally.  Frankly it sounds a bit like the worst sort of zero hour contract - where you have to be there, logged on and looking to do something but have to wait and wait.  I recall there was a nasty case where a large burger company (McD) paid someone £1 for a full day because he wasn't paid when he wasn't actually serving and they had almost no customers that day.

Was there a new contract given to you about the changes to the T&Cs of your job?

AdamPD

It's hard for me to explain (Dyslexia), but on the old site, we login, if there's items to moderate, we click the category (english) and moderate the item(s).
We were paid by the minutes worked, vs hourly, if that makes sense.
So if I spend 10 minutes moderating, then the queue of items runs out, after 2 minutes I'm logged out and the timer stops
I can login but if there's no work for another 50 minutes, then I will only be paid for those 10 minutes I moderated, not the time I spent logging in over and over.
We'd have to reach 1 hours worth of moderation to get paid for that time, so time spent refreshing, logging in and out etc, isn't paid for.

On the new site we're not paid in that way, only after we do 180 items, do we get paid the £10.42 (the equivalent of 1 hours work in a normal minimum wage job).

No new contract was issued for this new payment method/system.

Brie

Your comments are very articulate for someone who is dyslexic!  But it's an unusual (to me) situation hence my questions about what was actually going on.

My concern would be that they have essentially changed your contract without actually making that clear.  And that you are now expected to be available for long periods of time for which you do not get paid which sounds in contravention of minimum wage rules.  

Now a company can change a contract without needing the employee to actively accept the terms, as I understand it you are deemed to have accepted the new terms if you continue to work for them.  But this should be made clear.  Potentially it's something that an employment tribunal might be interested in but that would take a bit of work to get to that stage.  

Ultimately with so many things with work it may be better for you to simply walk away and get a new role with someone else.  Personally I'd want to stick it to them if possible but that will take time and energy.  

Hopefully someone better at employment law will wander by and offer better advice than I can give.

AdamPD

Thanks Brie! Yea it's a bit of a mess, I'm going to seek out other jobs in the mean time.

Brie

Best of luck with it Adam.  Hopefully you'll find something good with an employer that appreciates you.  Good ones do exist!!

Dakta

Very odd setup and as harsh and cruel as it sounds what i was thinking when I was reading was 'you need a real job'

I don't want to sound demeaning, and I don't intend it as it sounds like you enjoyed it, but no company on this planet is going to structure its terms in this manner if it isn't going to be for the purpose of taking advantage. 

It is time to move on, because on a separate note AI probably will probably have a field day taking over this kind of work. I used to investigate phishing attacks and a new tool we got reduced the requirement to respond to phishing events by something daft like 98% effectively overnight. A good and bad thing. 

I'm sure you have skills that can be put to use elsewhere, and If you're as motivated as you come across, you'll easily be worth more than what you're currently getting even on a busier day. Go get it. 

Marcon

AdamPD said:

It's hard for me to explain (Dyslexia), but on the old site, we login, if there's items to moderate, we click the category (english) and moderate the item(s).
We were paid by the minutes worked, vs hourly, if that makes sense.
So if I spend 10 minutes moderating, then the queue of items runs out, after 2 minutes I'm logged out and the timer stops
I can login but if there's no work for another 50 minutes, then I will only be paid for those 10 minutes I moderated, not the time I spent logging in over and over.
We'd have to reach 1 hours worth of moderation to get paid for that time, so time spent refreshing, logging in and out etc, isn't paid for.

On the new site we're not paid in that way, only after we do 180 items, do we get paid the £10.42 (the equivalent of 1 hours work in a normal minimum wage job).

No new contract was issued for this new payment method/system.

This doesn't sound right at all if you are sure you are still an employee? If so, https://www.gov.uk/pay-and-work-rights

AdamPD

Ah no, I'm classed as a casual worker/worker in my contract.

Always found that a bit odd, as I'm on their payroll, am paid via the PAYE system and get a pro rata holiday pay.