Almost 200 violations by delivery drivers in 1.5 months, Inspectorate reveals

The Dutch Labor Inspectorate found more than 180 violations within a month and a half at fast delivery services Getir and Flink and one of their platforms. According to a spokesperson, this is a "strikingly high" number. Furthermore, almost all cases examined involved illegal work.

The supervisory authority did not want to say exactly which companies were involved. However, Getir and Flink were the only fast food delivery services active in the Netherlands in the last two years. As a result, they will be fined. The exact amount of the fines is not yet known, but the total amount could be almost 1.6 million euros.

The infringements occurred a while ago. During the inspection, the violations were detected from the end of March to mid-May 2023. The practices are only now coming to light because extensive investigations were initially carried out.

During inspections in several cities in the country, the Dutch Labor Inspectorate came across people who were not authorized to work in the Netherlands. According to the inspectorate, the delivery services had not applied for work permits.

In the following months, the inspectorate checked the companies' records to determine whether this was happening more frequently. This proved to be the case.

It also came to light that the delivery services had sometimes set up complicated constructions to enable the delivery staff to work illegally. One of the companies, for example, used a construction in which it borrowed employees from various private limited liability companies.

Getir and Flink could not be reached for comment on Friday evening. Getir had already announced its withdrawal from the Netherlands at the beginning of the year.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the market for fast food deliveries was still growing strongly. However, this market later cooled considerably due to the uncertain economic situation and high inflation, which made consumers less willing to spend money. In addition, local residents complained about the nuisance caused by the so-called "dark stores" from which the delivery companies delivered food. This prompted the municipalities to ban the delivery services from certain locations.