British meal delivery company Deliveroo is planning to roll out its controversial decision to replace delivery workers in the Netherlands who have fixed contracts with freelancers across the country, the Financieele Dagblad reported.

The move is better for the company and will also allow delivery workers to keep more of their earnings and be more flexible about when they work, director Philip Padberg told the paper.

Social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher criticised Deliveroo earlier this year after saying it planned to ‘experiment’ with self-employed delivery workers in Zuid-Holland province.

He accused Deliveroo and competitor UberEats of dodging employer premiums and taking advantage of young couriers who are often left uninsured.

Padberg told the FD that ‘the market and couriers’ had asked for the change. Self-employed delivery workers get €5 per stop, compared to the take-home minimum wage of around €6 per hour, he said. The couriers are free to work for more than one company and those who wish to stay employed can do so, he said.

The company has taken out a liability insurance package to cover all delivery workers, Padberg said. However, couriers will have to insure themselves against personal injury.

In Britain, unions are going to court to prove that delivery workers should be treated as regular staff and entitled to sick pay and paid holidays.