Industrial Relations and Labour Law

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Court Decisions
Newsletter March, 2021

Dutch Courts ruled on the classification of platform workers and government advisory group view

March, 2021
  • The classification of platform workers is unclear in the Netherlands, despite recent Court decisions and a report from the Labour Inspectorate
  • Recently, an advisory bipartite Committee highlighted the “need for a political and policy response in the short term to this discussion”

UK Supreme Court judgment on Uber platform drivers as “workers” and its meaning

March, 2021
  • The long-standing case of Uber and others v. Aslam and others (2016) was finally settled by the UK Supreme Court that confirmed the views of the lower Courts stating Uber’s drivers status of “workers” within the UK legal system
  • The Supreme Court also determined what must be considered as working time for a Uber driver
Newsletter February, 2021

Italy: Bologna Labour Court held a previously used algorithm of a platform company as discriminatory

February, 2021
  • In the complaint filed by trade unions, the Court ordered the company to modify its algorithm as to avoid any type of discrimination, give publicity to the decision, and to pay damages for an amount of EUR50,000
Newsletter January, 2021

German Federal Labour Court decision on the case of a crowdworker and relative salary

January, 2021
  • The German Federal Labour Court (No. 9 AZR 102/201, 1 December 2020) re-classified the crowdworker as an employee
  • It determined also that for remuneration purposes, the company shall not be bound by pre-established fees that the worker received as a self-employed worker. 

New Zealand Employment Court’s decision on the case of a self-employed for a platform company

January, 2021
  • The Employment Court examined the terms of the Service Agreement, the intention of the parties and the relationship operated in practice.
  • It ruled against the classification of the complainant as an employee of Uber
Newsletter December, 2020

Finnish Labour Court dealt with a breach of labour peace obligations

December, 2020
  • The Helsinki Labour Court settled the case between a company and the union in the electricity sector, for violation of the collective agreement in force and the duty of peace.
Newsletter November, 2020

Canada: Supreme Court decision requires employers to draft their incentive plans with an exceptional clarity

November, 2020
  • This case requires employment contracts and/or bonus plans to be extremely clear when it comes to employees’ participation in bonus plans.  
  • This has important repercussions for employers and requires an in-depth analysis on employment contracts.
Newsletter October, 2020

Spain: Supreme Court decision on the employment status of workers for a delivery company and social dialogue process on a "Riders Law"

October, 2020
  • Spanish Supreme Court held that the riders of a delivery company are employees.
  • This decision accelerated the government initiative towards the elaboration of a “Riders law”, with the involvement of the social partners.
Newsletter September, 2020

India: Supreme Court decision on the payment of wage during the lockdown

September, 2020
  • A Supreme Court decision pushes employers and trade unions to negotiate on the payment of wages during the lockdown 
Newsletter August, 2020

EU Court decision on data protection “Schrems II”

August, 2020
  • In July 2020, a significant decision on data transfer concerning the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was made by the Court of Justice of the European Union
  • This decision could potentially block the transfer of data between a country of the European Union and a third country, including the US

Brazilian Supreme Federal Court issued a preliminary decision questioning the nature of Covid-19 as an occupational disease

August, 2020
  • The Federal Supreme Court did not bring clarity on this issue and in any case its decision was preliminary
  • The previous legislation on the recognition of occupational diseases remain

Germany: Labour Court decision on video surveillance for distance monitoring during Covid-19

August, 2020
  • On 24 April 2020, the Labour Court of Wesel, a city of the North Rhine-Westphalia, issued a decision on the use of specific devices to permanently monitor the behaviour of employees to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Newsletter July, 2020

Canada: important Ontario Court of Appeal Decision on termination of employment

July, 2020
  • Termination of employment clauses in Ontario must be read as a whole and be overall in line with employment regulation, even if they are contained in separate provisions.  
Newsletter July, 2020

European Court of Justice Order on the application of the Working Time Directive to self-employed workers

July, 2020
  • The European Court of Justice issued an Order confirming its jurisprudence on the exclusion of genuine self-employed from the application of certain European regulations
Newsletter May, 2020

South African Labour Court Decision on OSH Binding Measures for the Mining Sector

May, 2020
  • A Court Order issued on the 1st May requires employers in the mining sector to prepare and implement a code of practice to ensure the protection of mineworkers

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