The Dutch Court of Appeal has ruled that the employment status of Uber drivers cannot be determined on a collective basis.
Instead, thousands of drivers must have their case assessed individually, court case by court case.
The ruling is a setback for the FNV union, which won a case at a lower court in 2021 that Uber drivers are employees. Uber appealed the ruling, which the Court of Appeal sent to the Supreme Court in 2023 to ask preliminary questions about the importance of entrepreneurship and how to determine the employment status of group of workers.
The Supreme Court responded last year that entrepreneurship was a potential factor and that it is possible that the employment relationship of one worker can be different from another even if they are working for the same platform under the same terms & conditions. On this basis, the Appeals Court ruled that six drivers were self-employed.
“Although the court does not rule out that there may be individual drivers who work for Uber on the basis of an employment contract, in the absence of data relating to individual circumstances the court has been unable to identify any individual drivers or groups of drivers for whom this applies,” the Court found.
Amrit Sewgobind from the FNV union stated: “This isn’t a no to drivers, but a legal obstacle. The judge isn’t saying all drivers are self-employed. That distinction is crucial.”
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