The National Federation of Auto-Entrepreneurs (FNAE) denounced, this Thursday, the decision of the Court of Cassation to reclassify as a labor contract the link between Uber and one of its former drivers, believing that it would harm the economy platforms.
This decision "risks endangering more than 180 platforms that exist in France in all areas and that made 280,000 people work at least once in 2019," said Grégoire Leclercq, president of the FNAE, quoted in a press release.
Connection to the platform as an argument
"There are 97% or 98% of autoentrepreneurs who absolutely do not complain about the working or working conditions" of their profession but "it will clearly penalize them in terms of income," said Grégoire Leclercq. The Court of Cassation rejected an appeal made by Uber on Wednesday, finding that the link of subordination between the driver and Uber is characterized when connecting to the platform and that the driver should therefore not be considered as a self-employed worker but as a employee.
The highest French court thus considers that the self-employed status of the complainant driver was "fictitious", according to its judgment. "For me, social dialogue is not built in the courts or in the courts, but in a discussion of equals with the big players of the platforms", argues the president of FNAE.
A mission launched on the status of digital service platforms
"We have demonstrated our ability to negotiate," says Grégoire Leclercq, who highlights advances in the Labor Law on the coverage of self-employed workers in matters of work accidents, occupational disease and the right to training. According to him, the economic model of the platforms does not allow them to give salaried status to the autoentrepreneurs with whom they work, as this would increase their costs by around 40%.
"The platforms that will do the least are the French-French platforms because they will not have the means to assume that", unlike Uber, says Grégoire Leclercq. For FNAE, "it is now necessary for parliamentarians to take hold of this dossier". "Jurisprudence does not innovate while the legislator can innovate and build a law which better corresponds to the technological challenges, of mutation of work", estimates its president whereas the Minister of Labor Muriel Pénicaud announced the launch of a mission on the status of digital service platforms.
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