An uber driver can nevertheless be regarded as an employee. The Brussels Labor Court recently decided that in a procedure that has been going on for five years, according to the ACV United Freelancers trade union announced on Wednesday. Uber responds “disappointed”.
The case goes back to 2020. A driver for Taxiapp Uber then went to the administrative committee to regulate the employment relationship (Car) of the FPS Social Security and argued that he was not actually a self -employed person, but an employee because Uber determines his employment conditions. The car ruled that there was a clear relationship of subordination between the driver and Uber and that the man was therefore an employee. Uber, however, appealed to the Labor Court in Brussels, who undo the CAR’s decision in 2022 and ruled that the driver does have a self -employed status.
The driver again signed up against that verdict to the Labor Court, which the man now agrees. “The employment relationship must be considered that of an employment relationship in paid employment,” is the conclusion in a judgment of 13 June. “The decision of the car is therefore confirmed.” The Uber driver must therefore also be subject to the social security system for employees.
We still have to wait and see what the concrete consequences of the judgment will be. It is about the first procedure about the labor status of an Uber driver. At the end of 2023 there was already a similar judgment about Deliveroo meal couriers. According to Martin Willems of ACV United Freelancers, the driver involved would no longer have access to the Uber application since Friday. “So he can no longer work.”
“Uber could still go to the Court of Cassation to save time,” says Willems. According to him, it is now mainly waiting for what the National Social Security Agency (NSSO) does on the basis of symbol files such as this. “We ask the National Social Security Office to extend the treatment of the employment relationship to all Uber drivers and meal couriers of Deliveroo and Uber Eats. The National Social Security Office has said to investigate that, but it is still waiting for that.”
In a response, Uber says he is “disappointed” with the judgment of the Labor Court. The company states that the driver concerned no longer works for the American platform and emphasizes that it is a statement in an individual matter and that it does not change the current model of working with drivers with a status as a self -employed person. “Drivers who use our app do so because they choose the freedom and flexibility it offers them and to determine for themselves whether, when and where they work,” says a spokesperson. “We will carefully study the decision and consider our legal options, including appealing to the Court of Cassation.”
With regard to meal couriers at Uber Eats, incidentally, there is still a similar procedure of three deliverers who were also qualified by the CAR in 2024 as employees. Uber also appealed in that case at the Labor Court in Brussels, who still has to speak. Uber has already sent the three of the avenue, says Willems.
According to the trade unionist, an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 meal couriers work for Deliveroo or Uber Eatss in Belgium. As far as Uber drivers are concerned, it would only be about 2,000 people in the Brussels region, says Willems.