MILAN, Feb 19 (Reuters) – An Italian judge on Thursday ordered the local arm of Spanish food delivery service Glovo, which is currently under court administration, to “regularise” 40,000 delivery workers, according to the court order seen by Reuters.
Milan prosecutors earlier this month placed Glovo’s Italian unit, Foodinho, under judicial supervision and its chief executive under investigation for alleged exploitation of workers.
Glovo is controlled by Germany’s Delivery Hero.
A Milan judge on Thursday confirmed that decision, initially implemented as an urgent measure by prosecutors, and instructed the court-appointed official temporarily overseeing the firm to ensure its 40,000 delivery workers in Italy were legally employed, the order said.
Glovo did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Delivery Hero was not available to comment outside regular business hours.
The court document said Glovo must comply with Italian labour law and gave the temporary administrator authorisation if needed, to take decisions “that diverge from those proposed by” the normal management.
Thousands of so-called “riders” for Foodinho ply their trade in Milan and across Italy, using easily identifiable Glovo-branded yellow delivery bags.
Giulia Druetta, a Turin-based lawyer who has represented the delivery workers in long-running legal battles in Italy, welcomed the latest decision.
“It’s important that the Milan prosecutors and the court have delivered a clear message: workers’ rights are not an optional … you can’t put people on the road without safeguards,” she told Reuters.
The 54-page decree issued earlier this month that placed Foodinho under judicial supervision said delivery workers, or riders, were paid below the poverty line, averaging 2.50 euros ($3) per delivery.
In some cases pay was more than 75% below the poverty threshold, according to the document, which included testimony from 39 migrant workers.
The minimum subsistence level for workers in Italy is considered to be 1,245 euros a month.
(Reporting by Anna Uras, additional reporting by Emilio Parodi, writing by Valentina Za, Elvira Pollina and Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Gavin Jones)
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