Compensations and freelance contracts instead of jobs!
The Austrian company Lieferando, part of the Just Eat Takeaway group, announced that it has reached an agreement with the labor union on a social plan for hundreds of drivers whose contracts will soon be terminated. This shift is part of the company's plan to adopt a system of freelance contracts instead of traditional employment.
In an official statement, the company confirmed that negotiations with the Betriebsrat (Workers' Council) resulted in a plan that includes voluntary financial compensation and additional assistance, with a commitment to support affected employees and accompany them during this transitional phase. The company did not disclose further details due to the confidentiality of the agreement, but the newspaper Der Standard reported that the company will offer all drivers, between April 14 and May 20, the option to terminate contracts amicably.
The budget for the social plan is approximately 1.7 million euros, of which 400,000 euros are allocated to the emergency fund (Härtefallfonds), which only benefits those who agree to terminate the contract by mutual consent. According to the newspaper, a modest amount of only five digits was initially planned for this fund, and less than one million euros for the plan as a whole.
Estimates indicate that around 650 drivers can benefit from this plan, while administrative staff or those with temporary contracts that started after December 1 will not be included in these measures.
The amount of financial compensation varies according to the duration of the driver's work with the company, and the difficulty of working in winter is taken into account. Employees over the age of 50, those whose work permits depend on the job, and people with disabilities receive additional compensation.
At the same time that Lieferando is laying off about 850 employees, the company has started promoting ads on social media to attract freelancers. From April 16 to June 30, every new freelancer will receive an additional bonus of 2 euros for each completed order. The company justified this approach by stating that competitors like Foodora and Wolt primarily operate with freelancers only.