The widow and children of a food delivery driver who was hit by a bus and killed in Sydney will receive a $830.00 payout, after a landmark court decision found he was an employee.
Key points:
- Xiaojun Chen’s family will receive more than $800,000 after the food delivery driver was hit by a bus
- The Personal Injury Commission has found Mr Chen was an employee, not a contractor, of Hungry Panda
- Advocates say the ruling is groundbreaking for gig economy workers
Xiaojun Chen, 43, died while riding his motorbike for Hungry Panda in the suburb of Zetland in September 2020, leaving behind his wife Lihong Wei, their two children and his 75-year-old father, who all live in China.
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) said the Personal Injury Commission found Mr Chen was an employee of Hungry Panda when he died, and was entitled to workers’ compensation.
Ms Wei, who had to farewell her husband via video call from rural China to a Sydney hospital, said her husband worked in Australia to send money home to her family.
“My children miss their daddy every day,” she said.
“My daughter has begun struggling with school and my son has lost his father forever at just eight years’ old. Nothing can ever fix this.”
Xiaojun Chen’s wife and two children live in China.(supplies)
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine welcomed the decision and praised Ms Wei for pursuing compensation.
“After two long years, justice has finally been delivered for Xiaojun’s family,” he said.
The TWU has been campaigning for food delivery riders to have rights such as minimum wages and workers’ compensation benefits, regardless of the ‘contractor’ label imposed on their jobs.
Lihong Wei says her children “miss their daddy every day”.(ABC News: Jack Fisher)
Jasmina Mackovic from the Slater and Gordon law firm described the outcome as groundbreaking.
“Gig economy workers and their families are usually denied any entitlements because they are considered independent contractors rather than employees, meaning they are unable to access workers’ compensation and other benefits such as annul leave and sick leave,” Ms Mackovic said.
The Federal Court has previously ruled that a Foodora Australia delivery driver was an employee when he was unfairly sacked.
But in a similar case involving UberEats, the Federal Court found drivers and riders were contractors, because they could choose when and where they worked.
Xiaojun Chen was sending the money he earned to his family in China.(supplies)