This is the first criminal trial of "
uberization
" in France.
Deliveroo and three of its former leaders are on trial from Tuesday in Paris for "
hidden work
", suspected of having employed as "
independent
" delivery people who should have been salaried.
The "
link of subordination
" between Deliveroo France and more than 2,000 deliverers who had "
no freedom
" in their organization is well "
established
", estimated at the end of their investigation the gendarmes of the Central Office for the Fight against illegal work, seized of facts concerning the period 2015-2017.
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According to them, the company falsely presents itself as a platform for "
connecting
" customers, restaurants and delivery people, even though the delivery of meals is "
the very object
" of its activity.
In its contracts, Deliveroo explains that it has to resort to subcontracting, not having “
in-house
” personnel with the “
technicity
” and “
special know-how
” necessary for delivery.
This "
expertise
" appears "
very relative
", noted the investigators on the basis of testimonies from delivery people: "
it's the simplest thing in the world
", one of them told them.
“
You just have to know how to ride a bike
added another.
"
Without the (small) wheels
," quipped a third.
Delivery people were subject to strict schedules of "
slots
" allocated according to their "
performance
" (determined in particular thanks to their "
real-time
" geolocation ) and their obligations: to wear the turquoise uniform, to enter the restaurant with their back "
by hand
", check the order or remove the helmet in front of the customers.
A well-detailed list “
while the delivery person is supposed to be independent
”, underlined the investigators.
Until spring 2017, the application did not allow the delivery person to refuse an order that had been assigned to him.
He then had to ignore Deliveroo's calls, at the risk of being accused of a "
serious breach
".
Regular reprimands for delivery people
Another sign that Deliveroo is indeed the "
boss
", its regular reprimands to delivery people presenting "
statistics
" leaving something to be desired - "
we hope you increase them, for you as for us
" - or messages signed "
ride safe
" ("
drive carefully
”).
“
Free
of charge ” and “
for the sake of efficiency and simplicity
”, it was also Deliveroo which edited the invoices of its deliverers, a method of invoicing which strongly resembles a payslip, according to the investigators.
“
I never questioned myself
,” a delivery man told them.
“
They are the ones who manage us as if they were our bosses, they are the ones who pay us
".
“
Deliveroo works with independent couriers because it's in line with how they tell us they like to do business.
This gives them a flexibility which they could not benefit from in an employee relationship
”, pleads the company to AFP, recalling that six decisions of the French justice out of seven had already been favorable to it.
“
Small individual actions
” which failed for lack of evidence, sweeps Kevin Mention, lawyer for 70 delivery workers already civil parties in this case.
Other delivery men are expected to join them, and several of them will testify in court.
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"
Today is the trial of Deliveroo but it is above all a warning to all companies that operate on the same principle and abuse independent status
", warns Me Mention.
Highly contested, the independent status of Uber drivers or Deliveroo couriers is called into question in many countries by the courts or, more rarely, by laws which have prompted certain giants in the sector to propose compromises.
In Great Britain, the American giant Uber, targeted by an investigation for concealed work in France, granted its 70,000 drivers a hybrid status of “
salaried workers
” which grants them minimum wages, paid holidays and access to a pension fund, a world first for the American company.
And Deliveroo has announced its intention to leave Spain, where a law passed last year obliges the British group to pay its delivery workers.
The trial is scheduled until March 16.
