Online supermarkets and grocery delivery services should pay their staff in line with the supermarket sector pay and conditions agreement, not the e-commerce sector, judges in Utrecht said on Wednesday.

In particular, the ruling will benefit people who work evenings and on Sundays, because they are paid a bonus for irregular hours which is not paid in the e-commerce sector.

“The core activity is a virtual grocery store,” the court said in its ruling. “The fact that clients can order online and the goods are delivered to their home does not mean we are talking about different product.”

Clients may not be able to access the store in person, but the personnel are still working there, the court said.

The unions and grocery delivery companies like Gorillas and Picnic have been at odds for years over which pay and conditions deal should be applied to workers and the first court case against Picnic took place in 2019.

A spokesman for lobby group E-commerce Nederland said on behalf of Picnic, Getir and Gorillas that the court ruling was “disappointing”. The companies have already submitted an appeal.