Ruling on January, 15, 2019
Authority: Court of Amsterdam
Parties: Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV) / Deliveroo
Subject: Legal relationship between Deliveroo and meal deliverers qualifies as an employment contract
Summary of facts: Deliveroo maintains a digital platform on which independent restaurants offer meals that consumers can order via that platform. The deliverers at Deliveroo used to work on the basis of a written fixed-term employment contract. As of November 2017, Deliveroo only concluded contracts of engagement with deliverers. As of July 2018, no delivery company was working on the basis of an employment contract. FNV is claiming a declaratory judgment that the agreements between Deliveroo and its deliverymen are still employment contracts. To this end, the FNV argues that the situation under the current agreements does not differ substantially from the situation under the employment agreements with regard to the employer-employee relationship and remuneration. According to the FNV, the average duration of the assignments (longer than 3 months and more than 20 hours per month) justifies the legal presumption of the existence of an employment contract. The right to a replacement also existed during the employment contracts and, moreover, by being allowed to refuse an order, it has no value. There can be no question of a contract of engagement, since Section 7:400 of the Dutch Civil Code excludes such an agreement when it comes to the transport of goods. Deliveroo defends itself by stating that from the intention of the parties, the contract of engagement and the actual execution thereof it appears that in particular there is no question of a relationship of authority and that there is no personal obligation to perform work, since the delivery person can be replaced.
Legal question: Can the legal relationship between Deliveroo and its deliverers be qualified as an employment contract?
Considerations: Finally, the service in question is provided at the individual request of the recipients of the service, since it involves both the placing online of an advertisement by the host and an individual request from the guest who is interested in that advertisement.
Ruling: Contrary to the written contract, the legal relationship between Deliveroo and its deliverers is (still) to be regarded as an employment contract as referred to in Article 7:610 of the Dutch Civil Code.