The Netherlands will introduce a ban preventing individuals under the age of 16 from working as delivery drivers for rapid grocery delivery services such as Getir and Flink, as announced by
outgoing Minister Karien van Gennip of Social Affairs and Employment in a letter to parliament. The Minister cited concerns over the safety and well-being of children rushing through traffic to make timely deliveries. The ban will become effective in one month.
In July 2020, the Netherlands already prohibited individuals under 16 from working as delivery personnel for meal delivery services. Van Gennip has now extended this ban to encompass the rapid grocery delivery sector.
The Dutch Labor Inspectorate noted significant similarities between meal delivery and rapid grocery delivery, both of which were characterized as unsafe and underpaid. Drivers in both sectors operate under considerable time constraints during peak hours and utilize bicycles or scooters with backpacks or containers for orders.
Young workers engaged in deliveries face the risk of accidents, high work-related stress, physical strain from carrying heavy backpacks, and potential encounters with violence or aggression from other road users or customers.
"The ban will be implemented promptly due to concerns for the well-being of children," stated Van Gennip. She pointed out that an earlier announcement regarding the ban's implementation date this year provided rapid grocery delivery services with a reasonable timeframe to terminate existing contracts and discontinue planned work involving 15-year-olds.
Rapid grocery delivery services like Getir, Flink, and Gorillas have encountered increasing challenges in the Netherlands following several years of surging popularity. Various municipalities have taken measures against these services, with Amsterdam and The Hague, for instance, relocating the services' supply centers away from residential areas, resulting in extended delivery times. Moreover, due to inflation, Dutch residents are reducing expenditures on luxuries such as rapid grocery deliveries within minutes.
In the past year and a half, Zapp has completely withdrawn from the Netherlands, while Getir has exited several cities and scaled back its presence in Amsterdam. Photo by shopblocks, Wikimedia commons.