The spokesperson added that it is considering whether to appeal. In a statement responding to the ruling, a Deliveroo spokesperson told TechCrunch it “categorically rejects this judgement”. Its report quotes Judge Sylvie Daunis describing measures applied by the company to control riders - such as allocating long time slots to ensure weekend coverage and informing those who refused that they would not be allowed to work in the following weeks and unilaterally changing the criteria under which pay increases were defined or the minimum time needed to be online to qualify as a rider - as “a situation of almost permanent legal subordination”. Per Reuters, the Paris court found Deliveroo had imposed an almost permanent surveillance and control over riders’ work while they were connected to its app. However many gig platforms have been accused of abusing this system for years by falsely declaring gig workers are freelancers when they are - in practice - tightly managed and controlled. The French litigation dates back to 2018, according to RFI, which reported last year that three former Deliveroo directors had been summoned to a Paris court in March 2022 to answer charges of “not declaring a large number of jobs”.Ĭlaiming self employment/contractor status for the (typically) thousands of workers that gig platforms rely on, per market, to power a core delivery service allows them to shrink their operational costs by avoiding social security payments that are required when workers are designated as employees. Two former execs have also been fined €30,000 and given one-year suspended jail sentences for abusing the country’s labor laws, it reported. Reuters reports that the company has been fined the maximum penalty of €375,000 by a Paris court.
food delivery gig platform Deliveroo has lost a court challenge in France over the “freelancer” status of riders.
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