France: lawsuit in sight against Deliveroo for hidden work
Deliveroo delivery men in a street in Paris.
(Illustrative image).
REUTERS - TOBY MELVILLE
Text by: Pauline Gleize Follow
3 min
In France, Deliveroo and three of its former leaders are summoned to appear in March 2022 in court for “hidden work” over the period 2015-2017
.
Sources close to the case have just revealed it.
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The prosecution suspects the British company of having
used
"
thousands of workers under a so-called independent status via commercial contracts
", even though "
they were placed in a link of permanent legal subordination towards it
".
At least, this is the observation made by the Labor Inspectorate in 2017.
A few months after this report, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation.
Investigation in the framework of which the justice seized as a precaution three million euros on the French bank account of the company.
This sum corresponds to part of the social contributions that Deliveroo is suspected of not having paid in 2015 and 2016.
Deliveroo starts to defend himself
In a press release, the kangaroo brand says it operates as a “
digital networking platform
”.
It qualifies deliverers as “
independent service providers
” and ensures that they work “in
a completely transparent manner and in strict compliance with legal provisions
”.
Deliveroo also underlines that at this stage, "
all the court decisions rendered definitively in France [him] were favorable
".
Nevertheless, according to the lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, the company had had to change its relations with its delivery people, in particular following litigation before the industrial tribunal.
Anyway, the context is not the most favorable to Deliveroo.
Uberization, with self-employed workers, is increasingly challenged in court.
Last week
Uber lost a court battle
in the Netherlands.
A court considered that the drivers were indeed under an employment contract.
Departure from Spain
In Great Britain, put to the wall by the Supreme Court, the same Uber has decided to grant its 70,000 drivers a hybrid status of “salaried workers”.
This will allow them to benefit from the minimum wage, paid vacation and access to a retirement fund.
A world first for American society.
A change of status that Deliveroo does not seem ready to accept in Spain.
This summer, the company announced
plans to leave the country
, with Madrid wanting to force home meal apps to pay their delivery people.
In February, it is the Italian justice which considered that the deliverers of four platforms were not self-entrepreneurs;
she gave them 90 days to change the contracts.
Disparate decisions on a case-by-case basis, therefore, but harmonization within the European Union cannot be ruled out.
European resolution
MEPs adopted a resolution on September 16 calling to strengthen the rights of workers on digital platforms.
The text proposes a “
reversal of the burden of proof
”.
In the event of a dispute, it would no longer be for the workers to prove the nature of their relationship with the company, but for the platforms to prove the absence of an employment relationship.
The new framework would guarantee, in particular, to workers who do not wish to be self-employed, social security contributions.
The European Parliament also proposes to strengthen the transparency of algorithms.
There is no guarantee that this vote will have an impact.
This text is not binding, but it is intended to influence a legislative proposal from the European Commission expected in December.
The model is also controversial in the United States.
A California judge recently ruled that the November 2020 referendum, which endorsed the independence of enforcement drivers like Uber or Lyft, was unconstitutional and “
unenforceable
”.
(With AFP)
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