Dutch Supreme Court Rules That Delivery Drivers Are Employees

JurisdictionEuropean Union
AuthorMs Hylda Wiarda (Bronsgeest Deur Advocaten)
Law Firmlus Laboris
Published date24 April 2023

On 24 March 2023 the long awaited Supreme Court ruling in the Deliveroo case in the Netherlands was published.

The ruling confirms that the legal relationship between Deliveroo and its 'riders' (delivery drivers) qualifies not as an agreement for services, but as an employment agreement in the sense of the Dutch Civil Code. This ruling has implications not only for Deliveroo and its riders, but also for other gig workers and those that hire them in the Netherlands as it takes another step forward in the long-standing debate regarding how an agreement for work should be classified.

The Supreme Court affirms that whether an agreement should be regarded as an employment agreement depends on all of the circumstances of the specific case. By way of guidance, the Supreme Court further defines several factors that may be relevant, for example:

  • the manner in which the work and the working hours are determined;
  • the embedding of the work and the worker in the organisation of the work provider;
  • the existence or absence of an obligation to perform the work personally;
  • the manner in which the contractual arrangement was established;
  • whether the worker runs a commercial risk in entering into the agreement; and
  • whether the worker behaves as an entrepreneur more broadly in...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT