Wonolo

What: Wonolo helps you find work in warehouse operations, delivery, administration, event staffing, merchandising and general labor.

Expected pay: minimum wage or above

Husl$core: $$$

Where: Nationwide

Commissions & fees: None to worker; 45% to employer

Requirements: Smart phone; criminal background check, as well as any other background screenings required by a Wonolo employer.

Review:

Wonolo is a broad-based employment platform that primarily offers entry-level work in retail, warehouses, event staffing and administration. If you happen to be in the right market — near major cities and industrial centers — finding work is relatively simple. You sign up; get sent daily postings of available jobs and commit to the ones that fit into your schedule.

Employers rate your performance at the end of a shift. The better your ratings –and the more jobs you accept — the more likely you are to get additional work. Pay is generally sent to the worker within two days of completing the engagement.

The site also encourages employers to pick their “preferred Wonolers,” which means that workers and employers that like each other can build a long-term relationship. If a Wonolo client hires a Wonolo worker, the client pays the platform a one-time $600 fee. Workers apparently get a piece of that — $100 or so — if they agree to take the position. 

The site’s shortcomings

The jobs are mostly entry level and not highly paid. But they don’t require vast quantities of experience, so most people can fill most positions. The bigger problem appears to be that the site has very little customer support for workers. Thus, if you have a problem getting paid or using the app, you could be left out to dry. Employer reviews also have a big impact on the work you get. A few bad reviews and you might as well take your smart phone to another platform.

If you cancel a shift with less than 12 hours notice the site will penalize you by lowering your worker rating. And you could be kicked off the platform, if it happens more than once. Companies are not penalized for cancelling shifts with relatively little notice.

Outside of getting downgraded, the site’s terms suggest that you might be held responsible for “rush fees” or other costs to the employer when you fail to show up for a shift.  

Mystery contractor association

There’s a strange mystery in Wonolo’s terms: By signing up, you agree “to enroll in the On-Demand Independent Contractors Association (ODICA)” and abide by its terms. However, ODICA is still more of a promise than a real association. Its website says it will eventually offer benefits. If it has terms, they’re not apparent until you sign up. (Our editors dropped out of the sign-up process when the association demanded the last four digits of the applicant’s Social Security number.)

In summary: This appears to be a decent, but unspectacular, way to find no-experience-necessary hourly work. 

Other options to consider in food service and general labor: Shiftgig and, if you have skills as a handyman or landscaper, JiffyOnDemand.

What their users say: (From Indeed)

Work isn’t guaranteed. On some jobs, you’re expected to show up and wait around to see if work will become available. It might not. Overall a good experience and a good way to get a job at the companies who use Wonolo. Not the most reliable way to earn a living, but flexibility makes up for that.

Its good for getting job skills from different parts of the job market, and its a work when you want to. U will need two jobs to survive working at Wonolo

I recently moved to San Francisco and joining Wonolo has easily been one of the best choices I’ve made since I got here. I haven’t worked that many jobs yet but so far I’ve been really impressed by the volume of work opportunities in my area and their relatively high hourly wages.

As a student living in the city over the summer, the flexibility offered by Wonolo enables me to design a personal work schedule that fits my needs. The ease of the payment system has also been great and unlike shiftgig (another staffing platform), I’ve been been paid on time for every job so far.

Too many sweatshop-like jobs. I emailed Wonolo customer serivce about an employer who refused to offer me my scheduled break and they did nothing about it. Customer Service needs work and is slow at addressing concerns.

There are not enough assignments on daily basis. Sometimes work sites can be very unprofessional and not give u enough details for the job and conditions.

From Yelp

I WAS happy with Wonolo until 2 days ago. I had 2 scheduled back-2-back shifts, one got cancelled due to low volume. I called the company (I’ve worked with them before) and asked if they still wanted me to come in. They scheduler said no. Then I get marked as a no-show. My 5.0 rating for 44 Jobs is now a 4.35 rating … BECAUSE OF ONE ERROR THAT WASN’T MY FAULT!!! I sent them a message, they emailed back they would forgive me THIS ONE TIME, but I should have gone in.  They also haven’t paid me my $100 bonus for getting hired as a regular employee by one of their companies… I’ve been hired since July 2017 and applied for the bonus 8 times since January 2018. They can’t verify my employment… hmmmmm? 

You have 12 hours or more before your shift to cancel, and can only do this 2x in a month or you get put on probation. Companies can cancel you within 3 hours before your shift and apparently they can do it as many times as they want and it’s ok. I’ve been cancelled 6 times this month.

I work my own schedule and love doing it. You can make tons of money and the best part is instead of getting paid weekly or biweekly, it’s every 48 hours. It’s all entry level work so long as you are a quick learner there should be no problem. 

I contacted Wonolos support team for assistance regarding [a payment] issue. I waited several hours with no reply. I got a generic email regarding the process. I say generic because it was the same information regarding payment on their app. After several back and forth emails regarding the information and their generic replies….I am getting nowhere. All they have to do is process the payment again to my bank and they are refusing to do it.

Wonolo had a glitch on Sunday night and being a preferred “wonoloer” I was sent a shift directly that I knew nothing about but somehow the app accepted it for me, and many others. What makes me different from the “others” was that I didn’t notice this glitch and see that I had a shift picked up for me, meaning when I missed it, my account was deleted. So not only did I miss out on an opportunity to make extra money, I am banned and their silly “support” team has taken now 2 full days to even email me back, let alone correct the issue.