Temper, the platform app for retail workers, has raised its minimum hourly rate to £13. The announcement, with the wage hike communicated to users in January, comes after reports that some users were being paid below the UK minimum wage once fees to accelerate the payment process had been applied.

The platform’s CEO Alex Rose tells IEL that the rate increase was introduced on 1 February in advance of the UK government implementing increases to the national minimum. 

He adds that Temper’s users apply for work on a freelance basis, where the UK’s national minimum wage – which from April will be £12.71 for over 21s, but currently sits at £12.21 – doesn’t apply. 

The hike comes into effect a day after the Guardian reported on the Trades Union Congress’ (TUC) criticism of high street clothes brand Urban Outfitters, bed shop Dreams, and Colicci Café for using the app.

The TUC said in a statement: “We find it hard to see how roles like shop assistant can be self-employed,” while calling on the government to bring forward proposed reforms for gig workers. 

The federation of trade unions said that without reform, workers on apps like Temper could be being denied access to sick pay, rest breaks, holiday pay, and minimum hourly rates. 

Shift workers on the app who want to access their payment before 14 days can do so at a 2.9% charge on their earnings. For some workers at Urban Outfitters, who were offering shifts at £12.50 an hour, the charge would mean their earnings would dip below the minimum.

Café Colicci also offered shifts at £12.50 while Dreams advertised work at £12.71 and only began using the app in January. 

“People working via Temper have the option to access their earnings quickly, for a small fee, which is charged in its entirety by a third party and not by Temper,” Rose says. 

Urban Outfitters has not responded to IEL’s request for comment. Dreams declined to comment.

“We use platforms such as Temper to support short-term, flexible staffing. Any accelerated payment fees are optional and set by the platform, with standard payment available at no cost,” Colicci Café said.

The three retailers join the ranks of Uniqlo, Lush, and Gymshark who all came under fire last year for using Temper and similar app YoungOnes. 

“Anyone looking at this arrangement from the outside would consider it laughable that the person serving them was a self-employed worker akin to a visiting tradesman, rather than the permanent or temporary worker for your business,” TUC Assistant General Secretary Kate Bell wrote in a letter to businesses at the time. 

All three businesses no longer use Temper or YoungOnes to source workers. 

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowark told the Guardian: “Cynical bosses should not be able to exploit gaps in the law to deny workers proper pay and conditions. 

“The historic Employment Rights Act will bring welcome new protections. But without action on bogus self-employment, bad employers will make greater use of legal loopholes and talent platforms to deny workers their rights.”

The UK’s Employment Rights Act has introduced a swathe of protections for workers, including ending zero-hour contracts and introducing day-one rights for sick pay and paternity leave. 

Rose says that Temper offers its users many protections and benefits that aren’t required by law, including compensation if shifts are cancelled within a 48-hour notice period, sick pay equivalent to 70% of 12-month historical earnings, and lump-sum compensation in cases of accidents at work. 

“There are still many misconceptions around freelancing and platform work, often shaped by poor practices elsewhere in the market. I sometimes sense those assumptions colouring how this space is viewed more generally,” Rose says.

Editor's note: this article was updated to reflect that Temper's hourly rate hike was not introduced as a result of media reports, but was communicated to users earlier in January