Slots, Swaps & Absence

You can use the slot booking tool at any time and secure sessions up to 1,5 weeks in advance.
The new slots are published every Wednesday for the following week (Monday - Sunday).

Depending on which batch you have reached, here are the times when you can book your slots:

• Batch 1 - 1 pm

• Batch 2 - 2 pm

• Batch 3 - 3 pm

• Batch 4 - 4 pm

• Batch 5 - 5 pm

• Batch 6 (Inactive) - 6 pm

• Batch 7 (Newbies) - 1 pm (for the first 4 weeks of their foodora Rider career, or 1 week, if you are restarting as a foodora Rider)

💡Find more infos about the batch system here

Swaps are slots that have already been booked but are then available again. 

So if you have booked a slot but cannot take it, you should offer your slot for swap by clicking on "Offer swap". Other riders can then book it and it will be removed from your calendar. You can also book swaps if you can't find any more regular slots. The majority of swaps can be found mostly in the morning under "available sessions". 

💡There are a few important things to bear in mind when swapping slots! You can find the exact deadlines and procedures in the next questions below!

As a free employee, you have the option of changing or swapping your slots if you can't make it to your slot. You can do this simply by selecting the particular slot in the Rider App and clicking on "offer swap".

Depending on the timing, there are different procedures to keep in mind:

Up to 24 hours before the start of your session:

Offer your slot for swap. This will take care of everything and you won't have to worry about anything else.
Your absence will not affect your current batch.

24 - 2 hours before the start of your session: 

Send us a ticket with a brief explanation of why you cannot start your slot.
This takes care of everything and you don't need to do anything else.
Your justified absence will not affect your current batch.

2 hours or less before the start of your session: 

Write us a ticket with the reason "accident" or "illness" and ideally go to the doctor straight away. For short-term absences (less than 2 hours before the start of your shift), proof can be requested so that your absence does not affect your current batch.

As a free employee, you are not obliged to send us a sick note. If you let us know less than 2 hours before your slot that you cannot start it, we can ask for proof. You have the right to apply for sick pay from the fourth day of illness if you are fully insured and have been working at foodora for at least one month.

If you would like to claim your sick pay from ÖGK, please send us your sick note via Ticket and we will request your sick pay by means of a work & pay confirmation. 

If you are on sick leave for more than four days and send us a sick note, we can reset your batch to batch 7 for one week.
In this case, please send us a closed sick note showing the last day you were unable to work. 

First of all: congratulations to you! 🌞

Please be aware that from now on there are several things that you must do:

For us, we need to know some data for your pregnancy because we need to notify the Labor Inspectorate. This is necessary by law. 

Please let us have: 

• the doctor's certificate that you are pregnant, 

• which week you are in and 

• when is the expected date of birth.

For you, from now on there are certain things that you must consider: 

• mandatory maternity protection: this is a law that says: 8 weeks before the expected date of birth and 8 weeks after the birth you are not allowed to work. This law wants to protect mothers and you have an absolute right to it. If the birth is by cesarean, the protection period is longer (also for early birth; period is then 12 weeks before and after).

• should you feel unable to work because of physical conditions, please go to your general practitioner or your gynecologist and ask for an early mandatory maternity protection. This early protection is not always possible, it is for the doctor to decide. It can be granted from the 21st week of pregnancy onwards. If you feel sick, please bring a confirmation from the doctor as usual. 

• the employer (we as foodora) cannot end the cooperation with you while you are in the maternity protection period (8 weeks before and after birth or 12 weeks). You are protected for 4 months after the birth.

• maternity protection money: you are legally entitled to maternity protection money. There is a minimum of 10,35 Euro daily (as of 2023). However, if you earn more than the minimum of currently 518,44 Eur monthly, the maternity protection money is higher. It will then be an average of the net salary of the last 3 months before you go in maternity protection. Please turn to the payroll team (ticket in the rider support) to ask for an Arbeits- und Entgeltbestätigung for 2023.

💡Here are some links that you might find useful: 

• Arbeiterkammer

• Österreich.gv.at, this is a fabulous site with a lot of information around pregnancy as well  

Safety for the baby is now the first priority. Please also consider lifting heavy weights, working during night, long hours of work. Being a free employed rider, there are not as many rules, but still safety goes first. 

If you are represented as a free employee, that is - as it has been before - allowed.

However, you must ensure that the applicable laws and regulations are also adhered to by the person representing you. This means, among other things, that your substitute must comply with the rules of the road and possess a valid work permit in Austria.

Please verify the fulfilment of the legal requirements (e.g., work permit, social security registration if required, etc.) before the start of the respective representation. 

Violations of applicable law can, in the worst case, lead to administrative penalties against you and your representative. Additionally, for the safety of both you and your representative, always use the appropriate equipment, at least a helmet and a properly equipped bicycle.

First of all, we hope that you are okay! In case of an accident, these are the 3 most important steps to follow:

1. Get an overview of the situation: Have you or another person been injured?
2. Call for emergency services (144) and/or the police (133) if you or others are injured, or if the question of fault is unclear.
3. Report the accident to us promptly via ticket, once you are out of danger. Inform the dispatcher if you are unable to complete your delivery.

💡Of course, the whole process is more extensive, so there are a few other points to consider. Learn more about accidents, insurance and the full procedure here!

If you have problems with your equipment, please follow these steps:

1. Go to Pause in the Rider App

2. Repair your tire or equipment

3. Continue delivering as soon as you have fixed the problem.

4. Write us a ticket and we will correct your break so that there are no consequences for your batch.

💡If you can't fix the problem yourself, come to the Rider Station!

If your bike or cell phone is broken, swap your slot in time. Find out how you can change your slot as a free employee.

If you want, you can also rent an e-bike from one of our cooperation partners for the meantime. You can find all information about the e-bikes here.

Here you will find all the important information for problems during your slot.

If you cannot find a solution there, please always contact the dispatcher during your slot via the Rider app by clicking on the headphone icon in the top right-hand corner.

If you have any questions or other concerns outside of your slots, please contact Rider Support via ticket. 

💡You can find all information about our support system for Riders here!

A no-show occurs if you fail to show up for a slot without an excuse.

As stated before, if you work as a free employee, you can swap your slots up to 24 hours before the slot starts without giving notice. If your slot starts in less than 24 hours, you need to submit a ticket and offer your slot for a swap. If you give notice less than two hours before the slot starts, we can request medical proof. Ignoring these agreements, this may result in a no-show.

Important: If you produce more than 3 no-shows in a row, you will be excluded from the slot booking tool. If this happens, you will have to write a ticket and will then be invited to the Rider Station. At the Rider Station, a Rider Captain will explain all the rules for a no-show to you again and then re-enable you for the slot booking tool. 

💡Three additional violations after successful completion of the re-training may result in further consequences like cancellation of cooperation.

There are different reasons for account suspensions:

1. You have been spotted without a helmet or have shown other misbehavior.

2. You haven't completed delivering the order three times in a row.*

3. You have produced unexcused no-shows (by failing to offer swaps and/or give notice) three times in a row.*

Whatever the reason for your account suspension may be, please reach out to your rider captain or stop by at the station directly. Together, we will have a look at your performance and talk about the consequences of such behaviour. Our goal is it to have you back on the road as soon as possible with all the important knowledge you need to deliver safely and successfully! 

💡Three additional violations after successful completion of the re-training may result in further account suspension and/or contract termination.*