Opening criminal investigations with couriers without passports

The judges are paying particular attention to paper owners who act as helpers, middlemen and main meal delivery platforms, led by Uber Eats and Deliveroo.

According to L’Echo, the attorney general has opened several criminal investigations against the undocumented bike couriers and their men. On the basis of reports prepared by local police departments, so far, investigations have been opened into the employment of persons without residence permits and persons not registered with social security – violations of “type 4”, the most serious in the Social Criminal Code.

Investigators suspect that middlemen who provide their names to immigrants who work as couriers are demanding half of their income. This leaves only an hourly wage of €2.50 for the couriers.

The labor prosecutor declined to comment further on the file for L’Echo.

The investigations will largely depend on a labor court ruling in the Deliveroo case, expected in mid-December. In it, the labor plaintiff asks for a reassessment of courier contracts, from the “service provider in the sharing economy” to the employees, giving them much better social protection.