It is a final decision on the status of drivers who work for the Uber platform - since it was what was targeted - but which could concern a much broader spectrum. The judgment rendered Wednesday by the highest court of the judiciary clarifies the status of VTC drivers and other deliverers and couriers of service platforms. Our columnist Roland Perez, lawyer, provides an update on the state of the legislation in this area.
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Uber, like many platforms for connecting the consumer-client and service companies, has been in the crosshairs of Urssaf and justice for a long time. The companies concerned have often relocated their head office to settle in countries more favorable to their conception of "independent collaborators", as they call them, or radically changed the mode of operation and relationship between them and the drivers and / or delivery men.
Salaried drivers, not independent
After several decisions rendered by the Paris industrial tribunal against various meal delivery platforms - which have for the most part had to give up their activities in France, it is Uber who is singled out by the Court of Cassation this time. Last Wednesday said loud and clear that the relationship between the driver and the American company was an employment contract.
The driver does not work in self-employed status but as an employee for several reasons:
- He does not have his own clientele, but that designated by the platform
- The prices are regulated by the platform and in no case by the driver
- The platform has the possibility of disconnecting the driver after three refusals to run
In the present case, in the case examined by the Court of Cassation, a driver had seized French justice because Uber had deactivated his account, preventing him from working via the platform and therefore from receiving race requests via the application . He believed that this sanctioning power of the platform reflected the bond of subordination between the driver and the American company, unlike the independence of employees advocated by Uber.
Only 150 procedures filed
What will happen now? On the side of Uber, we had to expect a little because in California, the platform had been pinned by the state of Nevada, and the status of employee already established by the establishment of social protection. The fact remains that in France, the decision of the Court of Cassation will effectively set a precedent for all platforms operating on this model ... But it is still necessary that drivers or delivery people claim the status of employees! For Uber, for example, only 150 requalification procedures, or 2% of employees, have so far been filed.