Food courier operators fined for breaching employment laws

11 food courier operators were each fined €1,076.44 after admitting to breaching employment laws and for having deprived couriers hundreds of thousands of euros in wages.

Last week, 13 out of 39 operators faced similar charges, with six pleading guilty.

During these proceedings, it was revealed the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) launched an investigation into food couriers’ working conditions following several media reports of worker exploitation.

The investigation uncovered widespread violations of the Digital Platform Delivery Wages Council Wage Regulation Order, which granted couriers employee rights. Additional charges were brought against others for having breached the Employment and Industrial Relations Act.

As a result, workers were deprived of hundreds of thousands of euros in wages and benefits.

On Wednesday morning, the second group of individuals were arraigned separately before Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech. Seven of the operators had their cases postponed, as some challenged the charges while others had not yet consulted with a lawyer.

One fleet operator failed to appear in court which prompted the magistrate to issue an arrest warrant to ensure their attendance at the next hearing.

The companies and individuals arraigned on Wednesday included A.B.K. Ltd, Alexia Bongailas, Awamz Limited, Keith Zammit, AL-Yashfa LTD, Grey Ghost Group amongst many others.

The separate cases were adjourned to 29 October.

The prosecution was led by Lawyers Mattia Felice, Andrew Grima, and Ray Zammit.