Hermes has rejected claims in the media that some of its couriers are paid less than the national living wage.

One self-employed Hermes courier claimed they were paid £5.90 an hour over a two-week period, and another £6.70, in a report published by The Guardian.

The parcel delivery company has branded the claims as “disingenuous” and stated that, on average, its self-employed couriers earn £9.80 an hour, which is well above the £7.20 suggested as part of the national living wage, introduced earlier this year.

This figure includes expenses but does not cover the day-to-day running of delivery vehicles such as fuel, insurance, repairs, parking, road tax and breakdown cover.

Hermes acknowledged that self-employed courier pay can fluctuate depending on parcel volumes and that it uses regional planners to address the situation if pay drops below the national living wage.

A spokesperson for Hermes told LogisticsManager.com that the company “has been working hard to ensure that couriers get equal to or above the living wage threshold, despite no legal requirement for us to do so as they are self employed”.

Hermes says it has given all couriers a 2.5 per cent pay rise this year, and that £4 million will be invested to cover additional increases in rates for the delivery of parcels and performance-related contractual payments.