⏰ Setting When You Can’t Work, and Why Sickness Reporting is Double-Duty
With the contract signed on October 25th, the real mechanism of the job—the scheduling system—came into focus. Unlike the simple “book a shift” model used by many other apps, Foodora’s approach to scheduling and absence management is notably complex, built around exclusion rather than inclusion.
Scheduling: The Inverted “I Can’t Work” System
The Foodora scheduling system operates on an inverted principle: you do not schedule the hours you want to work; you only designate the times you cannot work.
- The Deadline: Every week, riders must go into the app and submit their availability exclusions before 5 PM on Tuesday.
- The Mechanic: If you do not mark a time block as unavailable, Foodora assumes you are available and may schedule you for that time.
This approach is certainly different. I suppose the rationale is that it gives the company maximum control to fill scheduling gaps, assuming full availability from the rider unless otherwise noted. From a rider’s perspective, however, it shifts the administrative burden entirely onto us: you must actively block every single time slot you need off, or risk being scheduled for it.
Introducing Flexibility: Shift Swapping
There is one key feature that allows riders to bypass the rigid system: the ability to offer your scheduled shift to other riders. If you are assigned a slot that you no longer want or cannot make, you can put it up for grabs in the app. This creates a small internal marketplace where other riders can pick up the shift, allowing for last-minute adjustments without penalties, provided the shift is successfully claimed.
🤒 Sickness Reporting: The Two-Step Bureaucracy
Another administrative friction point that became immediately apparent was the sickness reporting procedure. It involves a mandatory two-step process, which feels redundant and overly complicated, especially when unwell.
The Mandatory Two-Step Process:
- Digital Report: Create a sickness report in the app, providing a short explanation of the illness and uploading any necessary documentation.
- Phone Call: Immediately call the dedicated Foodora sickness line and verbally explain the exact same information again.
The frustration is clear: The report is explicitly stated as not valid unless both steps are completed.
Why the Double-Duty? (An Informed Guess)
While it feels like Foodora is intentionally making the process harder—perhaps to discourage unnecessary sick leave—there are common corporate reasons for this dual-verification system:
- Digital Trail (Step 1): The app report creates an immediate, timestamped, and auditable paper trail (or digital trail) for HR and payroll purposes. It is the formal legal notification.
- Verification & Triage (Step 2): The phone