- The Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office has ordered urgent judicial oversight of Foodinho, a company within the Glovo group, alleging the offence of digital labour exploitation. According to prosecutors, tens of thousands of riders were employed under exploitative conditions, with pay levels deemed insufficient to guarantee a free and dignified existence.
- The investigation, conducted by the Carabinieri Labour Inspectorate Unit (Nucleo Ispettorato del Lavoro), classifies riders’ work as essentially subordinate. Even after the 2025 reorganisation, the platform is said to continue organising working time and performance methods through digital tools and algorithms.
- A comparison between riders’ earnings and the minimum levels set out in the CCNL Logistica, Trasporto Merci e Spedizione highlights significant discrepancies. The judicial oversight measure is intended to correct corporate governance and could affect the entire contractual framework of the food delivery sector.
On 9 February 2026, the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had charged Foodinho, the Italian company of the Spanish Glovo group, with unlawful labour intermediation and exploitation, classified as digital “caporalato”. Public prosecutor Paolo Storari ordered the urgent judicial oversight of the company, requesting the appointment of a court-appointed administrator, a measure on which the preliminary investigations judge (Gip) of the Milan Tribunal will have to rule. The inquiry concerns the organisation of riders’ work across Italy, with particular focus on the Milan metropolitan area.
According to prosecutors, Foodinho employs around 40,000 riders nationwide, about 2,000 of them in Milan, formally classified as self-employed but in reality subject to organisational and managerial control attributable to subordinate employment. The charge also involves the company’s sole director, under investigation for allegedly employing labour under exploitative conditions by taking advantage of workers’ state of need.
The core of the prosecution’s case concerns pay levels. Investigators reportedly found that, in some cases, riders’ compensation was up to 76.95% below the poverty threshold and up to 81.62% below the minimum levels provided for by the most representative collective bargaining agreement in the logistics and transport sector. According to prosecutors, such amounts do not ensure a “free and dignified existence” as required by Article 36 of the Italian Constitution.
The public prosecutor compared riders’ net disposable income, excluding severance pay, insurance cover and contractual welfare, with the minimum levels of the CCNL Logistica, Trasporto Merci e Spedizione and with poverty thresholds. Of the 24 cases analysed, 18 workers were below the poverty line, indicated at an average of €5,000 per year, with reference values reaching €11,700–12,400 per year. When compared with the minimum levels of the CCNL logistics and transport agreement, the number of cases below threshold rises to 21 out of 24.
Another aspect concerns working hours. The incomes declared by riders were reportedly achieved with average availability of nine to ten hours a day for at least six days a week, equivalent to around 54–60 hours per week, well above the standard 40-hour working week of subordinate employment. This factor is considered relevant in assessing the proportionality of pay to the actual amount of work performed.
From a legal standpoint, checks by the Labour Inspectorate Unit confirm, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, the lack of genuine autonomy of riders. Legislative Decree 81/2015, as amended in 2019, is deemed applicable, extending the rules on subordinate employment to collaborations that are predominantly personal, continuous and organised by the client, including those managed through digital platforms. Within this framework, the reorganisation introduced by Foodinho in 2025, which eliminated slot booking and performance-based rating systems, is considered insufficient to change the nature of the relationship.
The free log-in system, as reconstructed by investigators, still requires downloading company software, logging in with personal credentials and carrying out deliveries according to criteria and procedures defined by the company. The management of the various stages of the activity, from timing to routes, therefore remains under the client’s control, amounting to hetero-organisation of the service.
The Gip will now have to rule on the confirmation of judicial oversight and the appointment of a court-appointed administrator. The aim of the measure is to intervene in corporate governance without interrupting operations, imposing adjustments to working conditions and pay levels in line with labour law principles.
P.R.
