Law Against the Flight from Employment Law Through New Technologies

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The Cour de cassation in France, the equivalent of the Supreme Court in Spain, has ruled that the contractual relationship between delivery riders working for online platforms constitutes an employment relationship.

The Court held that the company Take Eat Easy must recognise an employment relationship with workers it had previously classified as self-employed.

The Court's first ground for its decision was that the platform's use of a bonus and penalty system for delivery riders is equivalent to the disciplinary powers exercised by an employer in a standard employment relationship. Its second ground was that, since the app uses a permanent geolocation system that tracks the rider's position in real time and records the total number of kilometres travelled, the company is able to monitor and direct the work being carried out.

This is undoubtedly a ruling that could set a precedent across Europe, with the potential to influence how courts in other jurisdictions assess the characteristics of an employment relationship. In Spain, two conflicting rulings currently exist on this type of contractual arrangement: the employment tribunal No. 6 of Valencia, dated 1 June 2018, which examined the contractual relationship of Deliveroo delivery riders and found it to constitute an employment relationship; and the employment tribunal No. 39 of Madrid, in a case involving Glovo, which found that the riders were self-employed.

The consequences for a company that is found to have an employment relationship with its riders can be significant. The General Social Security Treasury may raise contribution assessments covering the previous four years, making it essential to seek advice from specialist employment lawyers in order to obtain a clear picture of the boundaries between the two possible contractual arrangements: employment and self-employment (including economically dependent self-employed workers, known as TRADEs).

For further information, please see this link from a French law firm: http://mbavocats.eu/la-qualite-de-salarie-des-livreurs-a-velo-est-reconnue-par-la-cour-de-cassation/?utm_campaign=La+qualit%E9+de+salari%E9+des+livreurs+%E0+v%E9lo+est+reconnue++par+la+Cour+de+cassation&utm_source=splio&utm_medium=email

In Spain, the Supreme Court has issued the following ruling: