"We haven't had a single decision that doesn't recognize undeclared work": Deliveroo again condemned for exploiting its delivery drivers

As the courts take up cases concerning it, the food delivery platform Deliveroo is facing the reality: its prosperity was built on the exploitation of workers . The British group was again convicted on Wednesday, July 2, by the Paris Court of Appeal for undeclared work. This time, nine delivery drivers are affected by the court decision, as revealed by several rulings.

These employees worked for Deliveroo for five years, between 2017 and 2022, before the platform decided to abruptly terminate their service contract . While the British company had already been fined in 2022, the Paris Court of Appeal issued an unprecedented ruling: it ordered the company to reinstate a delivery driver fired in 2020 for health-related discrimination . Deliveroo must also pay him €93,000 in unpaid wages. "This is the first case of reinstatement" of a courier fired for such a reason, said lawyer Kevin Mention, who also represents the 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 connection possibilities (on the platform) at certain times." To reach this conclusion, the Paris Court of Appeal "focused on the individual documents of each courier and showed evidence of subordination in each case ," Kevin Mention said. In addition to the victory of the delivery driver reinstated by the company, the eight other dismissed couriers will also receive financial compensation, some of which will amount to more than 100,000 euros. "This shows the extent to which Deliveroo was defrauding ," the lawyer points out. "Since 2020, we have not had a single decision that does not recognize undeclared work."

Deliveroo – which is in the process of being acquired by the US company DoorDash – has attempted to defend its record by claiming that its system has evolved since the outbreak of numerous scandals . "Deliveroo's operating model has changed profoundly and has been recognized by the public authorities as being based on collaboration with genuinely independent service providers," Deliveroo told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, July 2.

A lesser evil, given that the British platform has relied for years on the vagueness maintained by the Uberization of the delivery market . Although presented as independent workers , the couriers were subjected – illegally, therefore – to a regime of subordination. Between the control of their travel time or their breaks, via the GPS integrated into the platform, and the deprivation of the protections offered by salaried employment, the delivery drivers had to combine with the control of Deliveroo, whose members could hold the couriers accountable in the event of results deemed insufficient.

And this, despite the fact that these precarious workers could cycle up to 80 hours a week just to earn the minimum wage. In 2022, in response to this repressive system, the Paris court fined Deliveroo €375,000 , the maximum amount allowed, during the first criminal trial in France on Uberization.