Cyclists working for meal delivery company Deliveroo are not self-employed and should be paid according to the pay and conditions deal which covers the delivery sector, judges in Amsterdam said on Tuesday.

Deliveroo decided last year to swap all its staff contracts for freelance ones, in which delivery workers are treated as self employed. This, the company said, gives them more freedom to decide when to work and enables them to keep more of their pay.

However, judges ruled in two separate court cases on Tuesday that the job has not changed sufficiently to merit tearing up the formal contract and, in the second case, that the statutory delivery workers pay deal should apply to all delivery crew. They are currently paid per delivery rather than a hourly rate.

Judges said in a different case last year that Deliveroo delivery workers can be considered freelancers but suggested that ‘When contracts such as those used by platforms like Deliveroo are considered to be undesirable, then parliament should take steps.’

The FNV, which brought the cases to court, welcomed the ruling and said it would have consequences for people working for other food delivery firms such as Uber Eats.

‘It could be the end of the current earnings model,’ union spokesman Willem Dijkhuizen said.

Deliveroo said it would appeal against the decision.