TELEPIZZA, S.A.U. – Court Ruling (Spain, 2019)

On November 26, 2018, a lawsuit was filed by UGT (Spanish trade union) regarding a collective labor conflict. Another lawsuit was filed on December 12, 2018, by CCOO (Spanish trade union) concerning the same collective labor conflict. TELEPIZZA S.A.U., a pizza delivery chain, wanted to implement the "Proyecto Tracker" (Tracker Project), which required delivery drivers to provide their personal cell phones with internet connection for geolocation purposes during their working hours. Telepizza's purpose was to ensure that customers ordering their pizzas were aware of the status of their order at all times. The company argued that its main competitor, as well as other digital food delivery platforms, offered geolocation systems for orders, which made its implementation necessary to maintain a similar offer. The Collective Agreement for cooked product manufacturers for home delivery did not regulate the requirement for workers to provide mobile phones. Telepizza initiated an amendment of working contracts to be signed by new employees to include the mandatory provision of personal devices and the installation of a company-developed app for this purpose. Employees would be responsible for activating the app at the beginning of their shift so geolocation would start, as well as for its deactivation at the end of the shift. The trade unions also complained about the app accessing the phone's gallery. In compensation, the employer was to pay a monthly amount that it determined unilaterally. The repeated refusal or supervening impossibility of providing the personal phone by the employee was foreseen to be sufficient cause for the termination of the employment contract. The company explained that the acceptance of this system would be voluntary in the case of delivery drivers already contracted. The Court declared the nullity of the "Tracker Project" as well as the nullity of the clauses introduced in the contracts that required the contribution of the cell phone with inte