Post NL Holding, Directors Acquitted in Criminal Court of Social Law Violations Against Subcontractors

The Antwerp Criminal Court ruled in favor of Post NL Holding, its Belgian companies, and directors on Friday, acquitting them of social law violations against their subcontractors. However, the court did find several subcontractors guilty of violating social laws against their employees, with most fines being partially suspended.

In May 2021, the social inspection services conducted extensive inspections at Post NL depots. While Post NL sorts parcels with its own employees, transport to customers is subcontracted to third-party transportation companies using their own means of transport and staff. During these inspections, violations such as failure to provide DIMONA notifications, missing part-time employment contracts, and lack of work permits were discovered among the subcontractors. This led to the drafting of several inspection reports.

Some subcontractors blamed Post NL for these violations, arguing that ‘stranglehold contracts’ dictated how they had to carry out the work with their employees. These subcontractors claimed that these agreements compromised their authority over their workers and forced them to break social laws to maintain profitability.

In response to investigations into interference in the subcontractors’ internal operations by the labor auditor, PostNL Cargo and PostNL Pakketten were sought fines in May 2021 for what was deemed a ‘prohibited provision.’ The labor auditor argued that this constituted an attempt by PostNL Cargo and PostNL Pakketten to be employers of drivers responsible for all social law violations. However, on Friday, the court ruled that the transport agreement did not significantly erode the authority of subcontractors over their employees and resulted in acquittals for all parties involved except for several subcontractors and their directors who received fines mostly partly suspended for typical post-facto resolutions.

PostNL expressed relief at being acquitted but noted that the lawsuit had significant impacts on employees and the organization due to the nature of accusations and ongoing uncertainty.