Deliveroo convicted once again for undeclared work by its delivery drivers

The British food delivery platform Deliveroo was convicted on Wednesday, July 2, by the Paris Court of Appeal for undeclared work involving nine of its delivery drivers, according to several rulings consulted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), while the platform had already been fined in 2022. These employees worked in France for the British company between 2017 and 2022 before the latter terminated the service contract that bound them.

The Paris Court of Appeal notably ordered the company to reinstate a delivery driver who had been dismissed in 2020 for "health-related discrimination," and also ordered the driver to be paid €93,000 in unpaid wages. "This is the first case of reinstatement" of a courier dismissed for health reasons, said lawyer Kevin Mention, who represents him and eight other delivery drivers.

According to the court, it was also demonstrated that "Deliveroo imposes on them an outfit, a geographical area, a procedure to follow and possibilities of connection [to the application] at certain times" , which proves subordination.

"The court looked at the individual documents of each courier and showed evidence of subordination in each case," Mr. Mention said. Several of them will receive more than 100,000 euros, "which shows the extent to which they [Deliveroo] were committing fraud," the lawyer pointed out. "Since 2020, we have not had a single decision that does not recognize concealed work" concerning the company, he added.

Deliveroo, which is about to be acquired by the American company DoorDash, responds that its model has since evolved. "Deliveroo's operational model has changed profoundly and has been recognized by the public authorities as being based on collaboration with truly independent service providers," Deliveroo responded to AFP on Wednesday.

The highly contested independent status of Uber drivers and Deliveroo couriers is being called into question in many countries. In 2022, the Paris court fined Deliveroo €375,000, the maximum amount allowed, during the first criminal trial in France on "Uberization," with the true status of these delivery drivers at stake.