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26.06.2025 07:30

Wolt selectively communicates with couriers – what the company failed to mention about the differences between employment and entrepreneurship

Sirpa Leppäkangas, PAM’s Collective Bargaining Director, points out that an employment relationship guarantees, among other things, protection against dismissal, the right to annual holiday and sick pay, and prevents the unilateral weakening of working terms and conditions.

Sirpa Leppäkangas, PAMin työehtojohtaja

In May, Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court ruled that Wolt couriers are employees, not independent contractors. Despite this, Wolt has emailed couriers in Finland, asking whether they would prefer to work as employees or entrepreneurs.

The survey requires couriers to submit their contact details, raising concerns about whether those in a subordinate position feel safe to answer honestly—especially if they view the current entrepreneurial model as unfair or inadequate.

A misleading income comparison

In its recent message to couriers, Wolt presents a narrow and biased comparison between employment and entrepreneurship.

The company claims that as entrepreneurs, couriers retain 100% of their fees, from which they must pay taxes, pension contributions, equipment costs, insurance, and other expenses. As employees, couriers would receive approximately 65% of the fee, with Wolt covering employer obligations.

Presenting income levels as 100% versus 65% is misleading, even though Wolt notes that “overall earnings would be roughly the same in both models.”

— Framing this as a “choice” is peculiar. Wolt cannot decide whether to comply with the Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling. If the criteria for an employment relationship are met, it is an employment relationship, regardless of what it’s called, Leppäkangas emphasises.

What Wolt forgot to mention in its message to couriers

Wolt’s message lacks the mention of several rights associated with employment. Employees are legally entitled to paid annual holiday and paid leave. Entrepreneurs have no such rights and must fund any time off themselves.

If a courier falls ill, employees are entitled by law to sick pay from the first day of illness and for the following nine weekdays.

Wolt also fails to mention its unilateral ability to change working conditions.

— Currently, Wolt can unilaterally reduce couriers’ compensation without their consent. In an employment relationship, wages are agreed upon in a collective agreement or employment contract and cannot be reduced unilaterally, Leppäkangas notes.

At present, couriers procure their own equipment and bear related costs such as maintenance, insurance, and fuel. In an employment relationship, the employer provides equipment or compensates for the use of personal tools.

Employees are protected by statutory dismissal procedures. Currently, Wolt can terminate couriers’ contracts unilaterally and without warning, but this is not permissible for employees. Dismissals must have a legal basis, and notice periods must be observed.

Is Wolt attempting to bypass organised couriers with its own “working group”?

— The legal situation has been clarified after the Supreme Administrative Court’s decision, and Wolt now has the opportunity to advance the platform economy with a model that is fair to all parties and based on equitable cooperation, Leppäkangas says.

Through its ongoing survey, Wolt is seeking couriers willing to join a working group to “shape what the platform employment model might look like in practice”.

— In Wolt’s proposed working group, couriers would be left to consider employment terms without, for example, support on matters of labour law. This negotiation setup is reminiscent of practices in the United States, where employers often negotiate working conditions with handpicked individuals, bypassing trade unions.

Wolt is owned by the U.S.-based platform economy giant DoorDash.

PAM has been negotiating and discussing couriers’ working conditions with Wolt for over a year and a half. PAM’s partner in these negotiations and in shaping the employment model has been PAM Couriers Finland ry, the organisation couriers have founded.

— Organised couriers have the expertise and support of the trade union in negotiations. Hopefully, we can continue on that basis, says Leppäkangas.

Keywords:

Platform economy

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