11 indicia used to determine rider was independent contractor
BY Russell Bennett and Mark Chiu 02 Apr 2025
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Web platform workers such as Uber drivers and food delivery “riders” are part of a new and developing group in Hong Kong, which has greatly expanded during and following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The District Court case of Gurung, Sanjayaman v. Deliveroo Hong Kong Limited [2024] HKDC 1932 is one of the more relevant cases in recent years which shed some light on the issue of whether these platform workers are regarded as employees or independent contractors.
The applicant, a Deliveroo rider, applied under the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance (ECO) for compensation following a traffic accident during one of his deliveries.
The respondent, Deliveroo Hong Kong, applied to strike out the rider’s application on the ground that, among other things, the application was frivolous and vexatious since it was plain and obvious that the rider was not an employee of Deliveroo, as required pursuant to s. 5 of the ECO, but was a self-employed contractor.
The case authorities on the status of workers over the years in Hong Kong developed a list of 11 indicia to determine, as a matter of overall impression, whether there is an employment relationship. The 11 indicia are as follows (see Court of Final Appeal decision in Poon Chau Nam v. Yim Siu Cheung (2007) 10 HKCFAR 156 as summarised in Lee Wai Kei Wicky v. World Family Limited HCLA 35/2015 Judgment...
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