Date
1 February 2024

Tag

Active

Country
Portugal Portugal
Geographical scope
National
Type
  • Type

    Employment contract

    Legal

Description

On 01 February 2024, the Lisbon Labour Court has found the existence of an employment relationship between a platform worker and a platform in Portugal.

This court decision constitutes a landmark ruling because this is the first time an employment relationship between a digital platform and a platform worker has been recognised in Portugal. The court has made its decision based on the amendment of the Portuguese Labour Code under the "Decent Work Agenda Law" which has entered into force on 01 May 2023.

More specifically, the court has recognised a relationship of permanent employment between an Uber Eats courier and the platform. This decision is retroactive and applies from 01 May 2023 onwards. The reasons behind the court decision include that the platform controls the activity of workers, has the ability to restrict the extent to which workers can accept or refuse orders, and sets the renumeration for the trips carried out by workers.

The Portuguese Public Prosecutor's Office had brought the case to the Lisbon Labour Court, following an investigation conducted by the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT), which led to 861 reports being sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office.


Additional metadata

Keywords
employment status
Actors
Court
Sector
Transportation and storage

Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2024), Employment relationship between platform worker and platform recognised (Court ruling), Record number 4425, Platform Economy Database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/platformeconomydb/employment-relationship-between-platform-worker-and-platform-recognised-110174.