An investigative judge in Milan has approved a decision to establish judicial supervision over Foodinho, the Italian subsidiary of the Glovo platform. The ruling obliges the company to change the employment status of approximately 40,000 delivery workers, who previously worked as self-employed individuals. The prosecution accuses the company of exploiting workers through a rigorous algorithm controlling their work, leading to these relationships being recognized as de facto full-time employment.

Order for mass employment

The court ordered Glovo to grant full-time positions to 40,000 couriers, recognizing their previous self-employment as fictitious and based on exploitation.

Supervision over Foodinho

The Italian company Foodinho has been placed under judicial supervision due to suspicions of violating workers' rights and illegal labor intermediation.

Algorithm under scrutiny

The judiciary ruled that the company's algorithm must become compliant with the Constitution, ceasing to force people to work for starvation wages.

Investigative judge in Milan, Roberto Crepaldi, has made a groundbreaking decision regarding the labor market in the modern delivery services sector. He approved a preventive measure in the form of judicial supervision over the company Foodinho, which is the Italian arm of the Spanish giant Glovo. This decision is a result of an investigation led by prosecutor Paolo Storari, concerning a practice known as caporalato. Investigators determined that the company systematically exploited the difficult economic and personal situations of couriers, many of whom are migrants, imposing working conditions below the poverty line. A key element of the ruling is the order to regulate the legal status of approximately 40,000 couriers operating throughout Italy. The court found that although they were formally registered as self-employed individuals under a flat-rate system, in reality their work exhibited characteristics of a subordinate relationship. The algorithm controlling the app precisely assigned them routes and working hours, which, according to the court, deprived them of the real freedom afforded to freelancers. Judge Crepaldi emphasized in the justification that the method of determining wages was a deliberate political strategy of the company aimed at maximizing profit at the expense of the weakest links in the supply chain. In recent years, European Union countries have intensified their fight against so-called false self-employment in the gig economy sector. Similar legal steps were taken earlier in Spain, leading to the enactment of a special Rider Law in 2021, protecting the rights of digital delivery workers.The actions of the Italian judiciary are part of a broader trend of civilizing working conditions on digital platforms. The prosecution indicated that Glovo's algorithm must be adapted to the requirements of the Constitution of the Italian Republic, which guarantees decent wages and worker protection. The parent company, the German conglomerate Delivery Hero, which controls Glovo through its Spanish headquarters, faces a serious logistical and financial challenge related to mass hiring of personnel in Italy. This process will be monitored by a court-appointed commissioner to ensure a permanent shift to a more ethical business model. „The methods of determining couriers' wages are undoubtedly the result of a political choice by the enterprise, aimed at maximizing profit through the exploitation of entities that are unable to avoid these conditions.” — Roberto Crepaldi40 000 — couriers in Italy will receive employment contractsDemographic structure of couriers in the case: Men: 90, Migrants: 33, Others: 10Change in status of Foodinho (Glovo) workers: Form of employment: Self-employment (flat-rate) → Employment contract (full-time); Algorithm control: Full discretion of the company → Compliance with the Constitution and supervision; Number of regulated full-time positions: 0 → 40,000

Mentioned People

  • Roberto Crepaldi — Investigative judge in Milan, who approved the decision for judicial supervision over the Italian subsidiary of Glovo.
  • Paolo Storari — Prosecutor leading the investigation into the exploitation of workers (caporalato) in the delivery sector.