He had a fixed monthly salary and a company truck, but was there really an employment relationship?
A Hong Kong court recently dealt with a compensation claim brought by a delivery driver who said he was injured in a traffic accident while delivering goods for a food company in 2021.
The dispute centred on a fundamental question: was he an employee entitled to compensation, or a subcontractor as the employer claimed?
The worker had been receiving a fixed monthly salary of HK$25,000 to drive a truck and deliver goods when he crashed the vehicle in February 2021, fracturing his right femur.
The employer denied that any employment relationship existed and refused to admit that the accident had happened or that the worker sustained injuries. The employer claimed it had engaged the worker as a subcontractor but could not produce any written agreement to support this assertion.
The District Court had to examine WhatsApp records, expense receipts, and the terms of the oral agreement between the parties to determine the true nature of their relationship.
The case tested how courts assess employment status when there are competing narratives about whether someone is genuinely employed or working as an independent contractor.
The worker gave evidence that he inquired about a post on Facebook recruiting a driver for delivery services on January 3, 2021. On 5 January 2021, he started following another driver around in a two-day trial period.
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