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Description

On 21 November 2023, the UK Supreme court has ruled that there is no employment relationship between Deliveroo riders and the platform due to a substitute clause used by Deliveroo. This judgement also provides riders no grounds for collective bargaining.

The substitution clause means that a rider can let other persons deliver orders through their Deliveroo account on their behalf. Moreover, other aspects which played into the decision of the court include that riders have the possibility to work for multiple platforms at once.

The substitute clause also gives rise to illegal work, as only those riders who have an account need to pass background checks, while for substitutes, there is no need to be of a certain age or to have the legal right to work.

This court ruling differs from similar cases seen across Europe, in which courts have found that Deliveroo riders are employees, for instance in the case of the Dutch Supreme Court.

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Additional metadata

Keywords

income, employment status, collective bargaining

Actors

Platform, Court

Sector

Transportation and storage

Sources

• Gig Economy Project – UK Supreme Court finds Deliveroo riders have no rights to collective bargaining because they aren’t workers (21 November 2023)

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