For the first time the French Supreme Court has held that delivery riders working for online delivery platforms are employees rather than self-employed workers.
A rider filed a claim before the employment tribunal to obtain the requalification of the self-employed relationship with Take Eat Easy into an employment contract. The employment tribunal and the Court of appeal rejected the claim on the basis that there were no exclusivity or non-competition obligations, and the rider could decide on their own working hours, or even decide not to work.
The question as to the existence of an employment relationship between the rider and the platform was therefore brought before the Supreme Court.
In a landmark decision on 28 November 2018 the Supreme Court overturned the Court of appeal decision, on the basis that: