The Supreme Court of the Philippines has ordered Lazada E-Services Philippines, Inc., an online shopping firm, to pay the full back wages and other benefits of its five rider-employees who were hired in 2016 and dismissed in 2017, reports Manila Bulletin. The Court’s decision reiterated its 2014 ruling, “When the status of the employment is in dispute, the employer bears the burden to prove that the person whose service it pays for is an independent contractor rather than a regular employee with or without fixed terms.”

In February 2016, the five riders were hired by Lazada to pick up items from sellers and deliver them to the firm’s warehouse with PHP 1,200 (USD 22.01) each per day as service fee, for one year. They signed a contract called ‘Independent Contractor Agreement’. In January 2017, the five riders were told by a Lazada dispatcher that they have been removed from their usual routes and will no longer be given any schedules. Later, they learned that their routes had been given to other riders. The riders made a complaint to the National Labour Relations Commission over unfair dismissal.

Lazada, on the other hand, countered that the five riders are not regular employees but independent contractors. It pointed out that it is not a common carrier but a business which facilitates the sale of goods between its sellers and buyers. The Supreme Court said Lazada failed to discharge their burden of proving that petitioners are independent contractors. Petitioners do not fall under any of the categories of independent contractors, it added. The Court pointed out that the petitioners are not hired by a contractor or subcontractor, furthermore it said the work carried out was not require a special skill or talent.