Criticism of the social shopping offer Amigos continues
Are the «delivery drivers» for the Migros online store Amigos self-employed or Migros employees? Ahead of a potential nationwide rollout, the retail giant faces many unanswered questions and must address the criticism.
The concept sounds simple: anyone who registers with Amigos can make purchases for other users who order them online and pay just under CHF 8 for a shopping bag (and CHF 2 for each additional bag). Migros calls this shopping experience "social shopping", which focuses on interpersonal encounters.
But it's not quite that simple. Similar to the Uber service, questions quickly arise when private individuals take on paid work in their free time.
Criticized by Unia Amigos in March because the pay was too low (Werbewoche.ch reported)The question of insurance for the "deliverers" is now on the table. From Migros' point of view, since a contract is only concluded between the deliverer and the customer, insurance is the responsibility of the deliverers, who are self-employed.
How the SonntagsZeitung writes in its current issue, the case is far from clear-cut. If an Amigos self-employed person wants to register with the AHV compensation fund, this meets with resistance. As a spokeswoman for the Social Insurance Institution of the Canton of Zurich explained to the newspaper, courier services are generally not self-employed - and Amigos is understood as such based on the description on the Internet. From the point of view of social insurance, Migros would therefore actually be the employer of the Amigos carrier and would have to pay the AHV contributions.
Thomas Gächter, Professor of Social Security Law at the University of Zurich, shares this view. There is much to suggest that the Amigos are not self-employed, as they lack the freedom that self-employed people normally have: "Suppliers cannot set the price or other conditions of the service themselves."
The orange giant itself no longer seems entirely convinced that the uncomplicated concept based on pocket money and friendly service will stand up to all legal and social concerns. Amigos is still only being tested in Bern and Zurich. A decision on whether the rest of Switzerland will soon be able to enjoy social shopping will be made shortly. In the event of a national rollout, however, the company wants to go over the books and "revise the legal construct once again", as a spokeswoman for the SonntagsZeitung says. The aim is to give "due consideration" to issues such as social security and higher compensation. So it seems that Migros has certainly taken the critical objections to heart.
