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Home » Another Supreme Administrative Court ruling on food couriers’ employment status – PAM demands that Wolt comply with the rulings and expects authorities to enforce workers’ rights
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13.05.2026 16:15

Another Supreme Administrative Court ruling on food couriers’ employment status – PAM demands that Wolt comply with the rulings and expects authorities to enforce workers’ rights

The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland has today, on 13 May 2026, rejected Wolt’s appeal in a tax case concerning food couriers. The Court upheld the ruling of the Central Tax Board, confirming that couriers’ income must be considered wages earned in an employment relationship, and that Wolt must pay withholding tax on that income.

PAM President Annika Rönni-Sällinen with bright red hair and glasses wearing a beige blazer and black top, standing with hands in pockets in a bright office or meeting room with bookshelves, looking confidently into the camera.

Already in May last year, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled in a precedent that Wolt couriers are employees, not entrepreneurs. To this day, Wolt has not complied with the Court’s ruling and has continued operating mainly under the “entrepreneur model”.

—It is completely unacceptable that a company operating in Finland does not comply with final court rulings. Wolt must now simply follow the law and act in accordance with the rulings. This means employee status for all couriers working for the company, says PAM president Annika Rönni-Sällinen.

In the reasoning for today’s decision, the Court states that attention must be paid to the possible lack of independence of the contracting party performing the work and to the possible artificial nature of the arrangement. The reasoning also notes that the changes Wolt has made to its substitute practices are minor when assessing the arrangement as a whole.

Wolt has justified its refusal to comply with the Court’s ruling by referring to “changes” it has made to its entrepreneur model. The Supreme Administrative Court’s decision confirms that the actual conditions of the work are what matter, not technical changes made to contract terms.

—The time for excuses is over. We demand that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration immediately take measures to ensure that couriers’ employee status and rights are respected. So far, supervision has been practically non-existent, says Rönni-Sällinen.

PAM also calls for effective legislative reforms to safeguard the position of platform workers and prevent the spread of false self-employment.

—A strong presumption of employment must apply to all platform work. This is the most important requirement of the EU Platform Work Directive. It must be ensured in the national implementation of the directive, Rönni-Sällinen stresses, and continues:

—At the same time, we need substantial sanctions for employers who deliberately misrepresent the legal status of employment relationships by disguising them as entrepreneurship. This issue must be addressed at the latest during the next parliamentary term. Otherwise, the phenomenon will continue spreading to more sectors.

Since the beginning of the year, PAM has been negotiating with Wolt on a collective agreement for employed couriers, as Wolt has hired a small number of couriers as employees. The negotiations are still ongoing.

Keywords:

legislation Platform economy

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