Bicycle suppliers are often used in large cities. Not only is bike delivery more environmentally friendly, it’s often faster than it is by car. the The Federal Labor Court ruled in its judgment on November 10 this year (File No. 5 AZR 334/21)That the employer is obligated to provide his employee, who is used as a bicycle seller and receives his orders via the app, a walkable bicycle and a mobile phone.
How did the litigation start?
A bicycle supplier serving food and drink has sued his employer at the Employment Tribunal in Frankfurt am Main. Customers order food and drinks from several restaurants online – then the courier receives the order via the app. For this he used his own smartphone, which consumes 2 GB of data per month. This is evident from the testimonies provided by the plaintiff. The delivery was made on the plaintiff’s bike. For this purpose, his employer gave him a repair loan of 0.25 cents an hour. Repair credit can only be recovered in a company specified by the employer. The use of the mobile phone and the bicycle is agreed in the General Terms and Conditions and therefore contractually between the parties. Before the local court, the bicycle supplier nevertheless requested the business owner to provide the work equipment necessary to carry out the activity.
The lawsuit was filed in the Federal Labor Court
The defendant stated that the contractual regulation was effective and justified this in court by the fact that the use is not too burdensome, since the employee has his bike and smartphone anyway. After the Frankfurt am Main labor court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, the defendant appealed on a legal point. The Hessian State Labor Court upheld this case. But the employer was also unsuccessful before the regional labor court (judgment of March 12, 2021, File number 14 Sa 306/20), which is why the case ended at the last instance of the German Labor Circuit Court. The Federal Labor Court has decided that a walkable bike and an internet-enabled cell phone are important tools for a bicycle supplier to be able to do its job. Deviation from this is possible only if the employee promises to pay monetary compensation if the employee uses his smartphone or bicycle. These financial compensation payments must be appropriate. In addition to rented bike couriers, companies can also Looking for suitable freelance translatorswho work independently and handle bike delivery services.
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