Lieferando drivers do not have to use their mobile phone and bicycle

The Hess State Labor Court ruled the lawsuit brought by two bike couriers who delivered food and drinks to customers. But the employer refused to provide his employees with the necessary work equipment.

The plaintiffs, who both worked for Lieferando, protested the dependence on the use of their bike and mobile phone. To do this task, you must use a special application that requires mobile Internet. Carriers had to use the mobile internet of their own contract for this. The Regional Labor Court of Hesse ruled in favor of the plaintiffs (Judgment issued on February 19, 2021 – 14 St. 306/20, 14 St. 1158/20).

There was rental equipment – but there was no bike and no cell phone

In the terms of the contract, the employer stipulated that the work equipment could be borrowed against a deposit of €100. However, the equipment that can be borrowed does not include a bicycle or a mobile phone.
However, the law regulates in § 618 BGB that the employer must provide all work equipment required to perform the job. This rule can be excluded in principle in the employment contract, but this did not happen in the current case.

The Employment Tribunal in Frankfurt am Main has agreed with the employer

The Employment Court in Frankfurt am Main initially agreed with the employer. He claimed that the employee tacitly agreed to use his bicycle and mobile phone at work. This resulted from the fact that the employee saw that there was neither a bicycle nor a mobile phone among the available equipment. However, he signed the contract. Prior to the current employment contract, the contracting parties verbally agreed that the employer would not provide mobile phones and bicycles.

The plaintiffs then appealed and won the right in Hesse state labor court. The legal basis for the business relationship is the effective written contract. This excludes verbal side agreements, so that it does not matter whether something else was agreed upon before the contract was entered into.

The Regional Labor Court ruled that in this case, the employer is obliged to provide a bicycle and a mobile phone with sufficient mobile Internet.