On Tuesday, 15 January 2019, the court in Amsterdam delivered a verdict in the two lawsuits that the union FNV had filed against meal delivery company Deliveroo. The judge upheld FNV's claims in both cases.
The union filed a lawsuit against Deliveroo because the meal courier employs bogus self-employed workers. In 2018, Deliveroo required all its meal couriers to become self-employed if they wanted to continue working for the company. The meal couriers and FNV took action at the time to stop this. ‘The meal couriers are not entrepreneurs,’ says Willem Dijkhuizen, union representative of FNV Transport and Logistics. ‘And if they are not entrepreneurs, then they are employees, because there are no other options.’
Judge: couriers are not independent entrepreneurs
The judge agrees with this and rules that ‘the nature of the work and the legal relationship between the parties since the beginning of 2018 has not changed to such an extent that it no longer involves performing work based on an employment contract. When work is done, there is still an employment relationship. Although technological possibilities allow for great freedom regarding availability for work, this still fits within the character of the employment contract, even if work is done at times chosen by the employee. The dependency on Deliveroo is still considered by the court to outweigh the independence of the courier’. Dijkhuizen: ‘The judge also concludes that Deliveroo's couriers are not independent entrepreneurs. This means that meal couriers can now claim an employment contract’.
Deliveroo ordered to comply with CLA
By employing self-employed workers, Deliveroo also evades the CLA for Professional Goods Transport. The judge also sides with FNV in this matter: ‘The company Deliveroo falls under the scope of the CLA for professional goods transport’. This CLA covers both motorised and non-motorised transport of goods. The judge orders Deliveroo ‘to comply with the CLA, providing FNV with proper salary specifications and payment proofs to former employees who have approached Deliveroo for compliance with the CLA’.
Impact of the ruling on the platform economy
The judge's interpretation regarding the fulfilment of the personal obligation to perform work and the employment relationship in relation to the operation of the app affects the discussion about other platforms. Zakaria Boufangacha, FNV union representative board: ‘The judge's reasoning as to why there are no independent entrepreneurs at Deliveroo (second ruling) is also very important for similar roles in the platform economy. The ruling supports us in the fight against other platform companies that operate in a similar manner to Deliveroo and where independent entrepreneurs do not work’.
Deliveroo liable for contributions
‘It is inevitable that the tax authorities will soon be at the door, because these rulings make Deliveroo liable for contributions,’ says Dijkhuizen. ‘This could well mean the collapse of Deliveroo's Updates business model’.
He continues: ‘It is a very important ruling and touches the core of our entire social security system and its erosion. In the Netherlands, we have agreed that people who are economically dependent should be able to rely on social security and that employers should contribute to it. Companies like Deliveroo evade their responsibility by making their employees self-employed. These so-called self-employed, on the other hand, can only rely on social assistance, but that is not intended as unemployment benefit.’