NOS News•today, 3:17 PM
The Belgian Public Prosecution Service is demanding a fine of more than 24 million euros against the Belgian branch of PostNL. The postal company is accused of illegally using subcontractor staff. Officially these were not employees of PostNL, but the postal company would have had the most authority over them.
The case at the court in Antwerp revolves around two parts of the company, PostNL Cargo and PostNL Pakketten, which, for example, influenced the recruitment and selection of drivers. According to the prosecutor, that task did not lie with PostNL, but with the subcontractors with whom the postal company had concluded an agreement about this.
PostNL also went directly to employees of the subcontractors if a service had not been performed properly, while, according to the prosecutor, this should have been done via the intermediary company.
In the lawsuit, 220 agreements with subcontractors are under the magnifying glass. These would not have been fully developed enough and would therefore be unlawful.
PostNL says it does not agree with the accusations. The company indicates that it complies with the law, just like the subcontractors. “Furthermore, they are the ones who ‘run’ their company and manage their employees.”
It is not yet known when the judge will make a ruling.
Human trafficking and undeclared work
The lawsuit follows a large number of abuses by subcontractors of PostNL Belgium. For example, drivers drove around without a driver’s license, underage workers were used who also had to work far too long hours and there was undeclared work and illegal employment.
This emerged in a 2021 documentary by Flemish media channels HLN and VMT. Before this, a journalist worked undercover as a courier at PostNL Belgium for a number of weeks, which he filmed with a hidden camera. A parcel deliverer described the situation at PostNL Belgium in the documentary as “modern slavery”.
In the same year, the Belgian labor inspectorate conducted several raids on the company’s depots. An investigation was then conducted into organized fraud among the postal company’s subcontractors. The depot in Wommelgem was then sealed, causing delays in the delivery of thousands of packages.
Some arrests were also made. CEO Rudy van Rillaer, among others, was briefly detained. He and two others were charged with human trafficking, forgery and participation in a criminal organization.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands, there has also been a discussion for years about PostNL’s subcontractors, who take care of 70 percent of deliveries. In 2020, the inspection found that nine out of ten subcontractors of postal services do not have their affairs in order.
In 2021, the postal company was fined almost 300,000 euros because drivers worked illegally for subcontractors. PostNL was therefore held liable for this violation.
