According to the decision of the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (Avi) of the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland, persons who supply food and other goods to the Finnish mobile application-based courier service Wolt must be considered employees of the company, not entrepreneurs. ).
According to the agency, the authority’s decision was based on a number of factors which suggest that Wolt’s couriers are specifically employed by the company and no one else.
In her decision, Avi reiterated the instruction previously given to Wolt to keep the working time records of couriers in accordance with the Finnish Working Time Act.
Wolt said in June that it would not follow Avi’s instructions because couriers are not employees.
Now Avi has given the company a 14-day deadline to follow the instructions.
Founding member of Wolt, Juhani Mykkänen, said the company plans to appeal Avin’s decision to the administrative court.
"More than 70 percent of our couriers believe that entrepreneurial freedom is more important to them than employee safety." Mykkänen said and added that many of the couriers hoped to take the matter to court.
New work models
He pointed out that Avi has also said he wants to settle the matter in court.
Avi said it was difficult to take a position on such a case because the legislation is out of date in modern work situations like Wolt, according to Avi’s press release.
According to Mykkänen, the transition of couriers from entrepreneurs to employees would bring about great changes.
"We would [need to] terminate the contracts of more than 5,000 couriers and thousands of people would be left unemployed. After that, maybe just over a couple thousand would be hired full-time, with shifts and supervisors. In addition, the fall in earnings and freedom of work would be reduced," Mykkänen said.
According to Mykkänen, Wolt wants to offer the labor market a second option and that the company’s current arrangement with couriers would not succeed in an employer-employee relationship.
"The law does not allow a person completely free to decide in real time whether to work or not, whether to accept all gig offers or not. This is a new way of doing things. If it is banned in Finland from the beginning, it will have quite serious consequences." he said.
Mykkänen said that Wolt’s couriers have more freedom than other food delivery services around the world.
"We do not exercise algorithmic control or supervision of couriers, but we classify couriers and if a courier refuses delivery, it has no consequences," Mykkänen said.
Source: The Nordic Page