SODIPER Research Report
Czech Republic
Work Package 2
Výzkumný Ústav Práce A Sociálních Věcí
Research Institute for Labour and social Affairs (RILSA), Czech Republic
A report for the project, „Social Dialogue and Participation Strategies in the Global
Delivery industry: Challenging Precarious Employment relations“ (SODIPER),
funded by the European Commission’s DG Employment, VS/2010/0731
October 2011
Coordinator SODIPER:
Forschungs- und Beratungsstelle Arbeitswelt
A-1020 WIEN, Aspernbrückengasse 4/5
Tel.: +431 21 24 700
Fax: +431 21 24 700-77
[email protected]
http://www.forba.at
SODIPER is funded by the European Commission’s DG Employment.
The reports and publications of the project reflect the views of their authors and not necessarily those of the
European Commission.
Contents
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHOD ............................................................................................ 1
1.
THE MARKET OF PARCEL AND EXPRESS SERVICE PROVISION......................................... 3
2.
TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE EXPRESS SERVICE/PARCEL DELIVERY ........................ 8
2.1.
Working conditions of PERSONS WORKING UNDER EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
directly for UPS, DHL etc. OR in SUBCONTRACTING firms OR AGENCY work ....................... 9
2.2.
SELF-EMPLOYED PERSONS .................................................................................................. 11
CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................................................................................... 19
LITERATURE / SOURCES ......................................................................................................................... 20
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I
Introduction
INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHOD
In the Czech Republic, the sector under review is special in terms of many aspects
(structure of companies by size, multinational companies, a considerable number of the
self-employed, etc.). This had a negative impact on gathering information about the
sector as such and about working conditions of the worker group under review (drivers)
generally.
Until nowadays comprehensive surveys on working conditions of the group under
review (drivers) have not been carried out in the Czech Republic. If some analyses and
data (e. g. data collected by trade unions) exist there, then they largely refer to the Czech
Post (Česká pošta), being a post licence holder, and although some of its activities fall
into the sector under review, in reality it is very difficult to separate these activities (i. e.
services rendered by virtue of the post licence) from the other services.
As a consequence of the size of the sector in Czech republic, administrative statistical
data are unrepresentative. Data about the sector (number of employees) NACE H53.2.0
Other postal and courier activities can be found in the Labour Force Sample Survey
carried out by the Czech Statistical Office (Český statistický úřad); however, a marked
distortion caused by the sampling error represents a risk for such a small sector. This
also applies to further inquiries (structure of companies by size, number of employees,
prevailing economic activity, etc.).
The project should have included 3 interviews with experts and 8 in depth interviews
directly with drivers. However, respondents willing to participate in the research are
difficult to find, which in case of drivers is caused by:
a) Lack of drivers’ contact data – if the specific person’s contact is not available
directly (by their relatives or acquaintances), it is very difficult to gain entrance to
the company from “outside” – companies do not make their drivers’ names public
and when contacting multinational companies we usually get just at the level of
company spokesperson who provides entirely general information only.
b) Special working hours (see below), when drivers’ priority is a timely shipment, so
they have time for a potential interview not earlier than late afternoon or in the
evening.
c) Obligation not to reveal a “company secret” for which they could be sanctioned.
The same problem was to get respondents – experts (employers, trade unionists,
researchers) in the said sector and drivers’ working conditions. The reasons can be
summarized as follows:
a) Lack of researchers who are looking into the sector (no demand has been shown for
a research of this type so far).
b) Lack of trade unionists who operate in the sector – a large number of the self
employed work in the sector (see below), who (by definition) are not trade union
members, nor they unite in another way.
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Introduction
c) Lack of employers (managers) who can give us an interview – especially in large
companies an interview requirement is subject to a difficult approval procedure at
different management levels.
Until now, the research has been participated by 4 drivers from the following
companies: Direct Parcel Distribution (DPD), DHL, Professional Parcel Logistic (PPL,
since 2006 a part of the Deutsche Post DHL group) and Dropick (a company
specialising in the express delivery in connection with other services, e. g. signatures of
documents, etc.). Two interviews were carried out with experts, namely with a member
of the Trade Union of Transport (Odborový svaz dopravy) and a Czech representative of
the DHL European Work Council.
CONCERNING INTERVIEWS WITH WORKS COUNCILS
The project included an interview with a representative of the DHL European Work Council
(hereinafter “DHL EWC”) in the Czech Republic. As DHL meets requirements of the Council
Directive 94/45/EC of 22 September 1994 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a
procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the
purposes of informing and consulting employees, it is obliged to establish a European Work
Council.
The respondent is a DHL employee working in the middle/senior management. According to the
interview findings, it was directly the employer who was interested in establishing a Czech
representative in the DHL EWC in order to meet the obligation arising from the said directive. The
respondent appreciates the employer’s attitude to her duties in the DHL EWC – the employer has no
problem with excusing her from work for meetings, being forthcoming in this regard as much as
possible. The respondent considers the DHL EWC and work for it useful, since she can thus meet
DHL employees from other European countries and obtain both formal and informal information.
However, she also points out that problems discussed at the DHL European Work Council meetings
are sometimes remote to her – e. g. the problem currently dealt with by the DHL EWC – she is not
well informed about dismissal of employees at the position of messengers and drivers and their “rehiring” in the form of self-employment, since she works at the middle/senior management post and
in the division which does not face this problem. She knows about dismissals of messengers and
drivers and their “re-hiring” as the self-employed, but her information is second-hand only.
The DHL EWC does not cooperate with trade unions in the Czech Republic, since there are not
trade unions in DHL (except for one basic trade-union unit which has nothing in common with the
target group under review). The DHL EWC representative in Czech Republic also focuses primarily
on foreign cooperation inside the DHL EWC, she pursues no “top-down” activities, i. e. aiming at
the lower employee positions, so that we cannot say that the DHL EWC in the Czech Republic
replaces or complements trade union work.
From the Czech representative’s perspective, work of the DHL EWC appears to be useful, but due to
the company size (DHL has four divisions in Czech Republic) it is almost impossible for the
respondent to map and cover potential problems of employees at different positions (e. g. the target
group of drivers and messengers under review) and in the other divisions – although she herself is
content with her job, she is aware of the fact that other groups of employees may have various
reservations of which, however, she is not informed, that is why she cannot competently present
them at the DHL EWC meetings.
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Chapter 1
1.
THE MARKET OF PARCEL AND EXPRESS SERVICE
PROVISION
Background
The entirely privileged position on the Czech market of postal and delivery services is
taken by the state-owned company Czech Post (Česká pošta). Since its establishment the
Czech Post has been a “postal licence” holder, the granting of which is decided, in
compliance with the Act no. 29/2000 Coll. on postal services and on amendments of
some laws (the “Postal Act”), by the regulatory body, Czech Telecommunication Office
(Český telekomunikační úřad).
The full liberalisation of the Czech postal market should occur in 2013 (namely from 1
January 2013); nevertheless, the market has been gradually liberalised since 2000, when
the above mentioned Postal Act came into force, with the effect from 1 July 2000. It
stipulates requirements for providing and operating postal services and prescribes, for
the first time, a material and weight limit for postal exception for universal postal
service operators. A price limit was subsequently set by the Czech Government Decree
No. 112/2000. These weight and price limits for CZ were then twice reduced, namely
from 1 May 2004 (Government Decree No. 305/2003, when the weight limit was
transferred from the Act on postal services to this subordinate legislation in order to
facilitate later changes and then the price limits for domestic and international services
were unified as a result of criticism by the European Commission regarding existence of
two different limits) and from 1 January 2006 (Government Decree No. 512/2005).
Thanks to liberalisation of incoming and outgoing international postal items and
liberalised direct mail, the Czech postal market can be described as relatively
liberalised, while the full liberalisation should start from 1 January 2013. Estimates of
impacts of postal service liberalisation on the Czech postal market differ; according to
trade unions the full liberalisation will cause numerous job losses. However, this is
disputable, since the Czech Post has been preparing for liberalisation and developing its
activities in other service segments too (electronic signature).
Around the year 2000 the Czech market was penetrated by large multinational
companies which specialize in express delivery of (particularly) international postal
items, and gradually also small companies were established specializing in express
delivery of domestic postal items. With a growing competition the Czech Post started to
adjust the portfolio of its services and renders services in other segments of this market
too (in the express delivery, among other things), alongside multinational companies
still attending to a considerable part of the Czech market in delivery services.
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Chapter 1
The current structure of the postal and delivery services can be described as follows:
1) Czech Post, rendering services required under the postal licence and simultaneously
expanding its service portfolio into other market segments (e. g. in the express
delivery segment)
2) Large multinational companies (DHL, TNT, FedEx, United Parcel Service – UPS),
which provide more than 90% of all express deliveries arriving to or leaving this
country1.
3) Relatively small and mid-sized companies which try to compete with the said
multinational companies via similar services and further added value (e.g. express
delivery and ensuring signatures on documents, ticket distribution, etc.)
4) Small companies with several employees and the self-employed who usually work
for large multinational companies (see part 2), or earn some extra money e.g. by
removal services or similar activities
Self-employed messengers and drivers
In the Czech Republic, this sector is special as many self-employed people work as
messengers and drivers there. Unfortunately, this statement cannot be illustrated by data,
since they do not exist at all, or are inexact; nevertheless, all the respondents who took
part in this research have agreed with this trend. The practice in multinational
companies is even to dismiss employees working as messengers and drivers and to
“re-hire” them as the self-employed or contractors to whom the Labour Code naturally
does not apply. The reason why companies do this is obviously their striving to save
costs and a possibility to respond to slumps in demand flexibly (seasonal fluctuations,
economic recession, etc.).
However, the interviewed messengers did not view this trend negatively, and if they are
among the self-employed, they do not want to change anything about it (i.e. to become
an employee), because subcontracting is convenient for them – the system gives certain
flexibility to them as well.
Social dialogue in the sector
Trade unions
With regard to the great number of the self-employed working in the sector, a social
dialogue does not practically exist here. Although trade unions would be interested
(according to findings of a national workshop) in representing drivers and messengers,
but they have nothing to offer to the self-employed. Though drivers, both employees and
the self-employed, expressed in the interviews their interest in organizing and pushing
for their interests, however, in a rather passive way, they, by their own account, do not
1
PETRIKOVÁ, M. Asociace expresních přepravců. [Express Association], Logistika, 16. 10. 2001.
available at: http://logistika.ihned.cz/c1-10290060 (cit. 8. 8. 2011).
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Chapter 1
have time for an active pushing their interests through (either via trade unions or in
another way).
Exceptional is the Czech Post (it employed 34,374 people in 20102), which periodically
concludes a company-level collective agreement with the Trade Union of Workers in
Postal, Telecommunication and Newspaper Services (Odborový svaz zaměstnanců
poštovních, telekomunikačních a novinových služeb) (the most recent company-level
collective agreement was concluded for 2011–2013, regulating in particular an increase
of minimum wage scales, the employer’s contribution to the employees’ supplementary
pension scheme or life insurance, the employer’s obligations in terms of nominal wage
growth, increase of night shift premium and a premium for work in split shifts and
employment-related obligations, etc.). The postal employees are also covered by the
higher-level collective agreement concluded between the Trade Union of Workers in
Postal, Telecommunication and Newspaper Services and the Czech Association of
Postal, Telecommunication and Press Distribution Employers (Český svaz
zaměstnavatelů pošt, telekomunikací a distribuce tisku (the current one is valid from 1
April 2006 to 31 March 2014).
The Trade Union of Transport (Odborový svaz dopravy) and the Transport Union of the
Czech Republic (Svaz dopravy ČR) (Road Transport section) conclude a higher-level
collective agreement (currently in force for 2009–2012), which applies to all members
of the Transport Association (in the Road Transport section), i.e. also to some of the
above-mentioned multinational companies, or some of their divisions (e.g. TNT Innight
Czech Republic, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Express).
Generally, this collective agreement covers a wide range of the Transport Union
members in the Road Transport section – it applies to companies conducting business in
road transport, logistics, but also in express services. In this context, nevertheless, it is
worth mentioning that higher-level collective agreements (concluded between trade
unions and the employer association) in the Czech Republic define essential wage and
working conditions in the sector, often at the level prescribed by the Labour Code and
other labour-law regulations. A higher-level collective agreement serves thus rather at a
certain guide for bargaining on wages and working conditions. Consequently, the
higher-level collective agreement is important for agreement between employers and
trade unions in the sector on essential conditions rather than for provision of
above-standard working and wage conditions (above the Labour Code and other
labour-law regulations). Real room for bargaining is then at the company level;
however, company-level collective agreements are not concluded in the sector3.
2
3
Source: Czech Post website: http://www.ceskaposta.cz/cz/o-ceske-poste/profil/zakladni-informaceid358/, cited 18. 10. 2011
As there is no duty in the Czech Republic to record and publish company-level collective agreements,
it cannot be entirely ruled out that a company-level collective agreement exists in some of the
companies operating in the sector of express services. However, experts (trade unionists and
employers who gave interview in this project) are not aware of any company-level collective
agreement.
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Chapter 1
Work councils
With regard to the possibility of international comparison, activities of work councils
must be mentioned. In the Czech legislation “work council” appeared relatively recently
(amendment to the Labour Code 155/2000 with the effect from 1 January 2001) – this
amendment aimed at meeting requirements of the European legislation, primarily to
ensure proper transfer of information from the employer to employees.
The role of work councils in the Czech Republic is currently incomparable with that of
trade unions that have a long-standing tradition in Czech Republic. Unlike trade unions,
work councils have no legal personality and originally a company was not allowed to
have a work council and a trade union working there simultaneously – when a trade
union was established in the company, the work council ceased to exist. The trade union
was thus definitely superior to the work council. Currently, based on the Findings of the
Constitutional Court No. 116/2008, a work council can be established with each
employer regardless the fact whether a trade union operates there or not. However,
powers and focus of work councils and trade unions remain different – particularly this
applies to the possibility to conclude collective agreements that can be concluded on
behalf of employees by a trade union only. The lacking personality prevents work
councils and occupational health & safety officers from concluding any agreement and
performing legal acts generally. Therefore, importance of company councils in CZ
consists mainly in informing employees and representing a help for employers –
wherever a work council operates, the employer is obliged to inform the work council
only – in the opposite situation (i. e. at the non-existence of a trade union or a work
council) the employer must inform each employee individually.
For the time being, work councils are very rare in the Czech Republic and there are none
in the sector under examination (except for the above-mentioned European company
councils operating in transnational companies).
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Chapter 1
CONCLUSION
Typical for the sector under review is (i) the exclusive position of the Czech Post which
has expanded the portfolio of its services also to the express delivery sector, (ii)
operation of large multinational companies covering no less than 90% of the
international express delivery market, (iii) the high number of the self-employed and
small companies (with less than 10 employees) which are often contractors working as
drivers and messengers for multinational companies.
As a consequence of the high number of the self-employed in the sector, there is actually
no social dialogue there; the exception is the Czech Post which did not yield to the trend
of dismissing employees and re-hiring them as the self-employed. Therefore, trade
unions operate in the Czech Post and both parties conclude a company-level collective
agreement periodically.
Large multinational companies are obliged to establish European Work Councils, in the
Czech context significance of which consists rather in informing employees about the
situation in the company in other member states of the EU than in representing interests
of employees (or the self-employed) in a rather significant way. This role can be played
by the trade unions that are interested in representing drivers and messengers; however,
they have nothing to offer to the self-employed at these jobs4. Both the employed and
self-employed messengers and drivers are also interested in uniting and defending their
interests in order to improve working conditions; however, due to their working hours
and the overall inhomogeneity of drivers and messengers (doing business also in other
fields, e.g. removal), their interest is rather passive.
4
As per the Act no. 262/2006, Labour Code, Art. 15, “trade unions are entitled to act in labour-law
relations …”. A relation between a company and the self-employed is, however, not a labour-law
relation; therefore, there is no room in such a relation for trade unions.
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Chapter 2
2.
TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE EXPRESS
SERVICE/PARCEL DELIVERY
As already mentioned several times, there are a lot of the self-employed in the sector. A
messenger position can be taken by:
 An employee
 The self-employed who have their own car available

A small company (often owned by the self-employed), a multinational company
contracted for the delivery, employing several people (1–10) and possessing several
vehicles
The self-employed and companies then work as “transport contractors” for large
companies.
From the interviews conducted we may conclude that “employing” the self-employed is
a recent trend in the sector, when this trend has its advantages for both parties.
Companies want to:
 Be as flexible as possible and respond to potential fluctuations of the market
 Avoid difficulties related to the fleet acquisition and maintenance; and

Save social and health insurance paid on behalf of their employees
The self-employed messengers appreciate:
 Flexibility (which is, however, only relative according to our findings and in
comparison with employees, e. g. observance of working hours)
 Higher earnings – in the self-employed role they pay lower social and health
insurance and they can better optimise their earnings in terms of taxes
Self-employed messengers have naturally higher costs related to fleet maintenance, or to
employment of other people, they also do not get any company benefits, etc.
Nevertheless, none of the self-employed respondents consider becoming employed at
the same position by the company.
Other employment models (agency work, franchise system) are not established in the
sector.
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Chapter 2
2.1.
Working conditions of PERSONS WORKING UNDER EMPLOYMENT
CONTRACT directly for UPS, DHL etc. OR in SUBCONTRACTING firms OR
AGENCY work
Only one of the respondents was an employee (DHL).
Work organisation: information on the daily routine, number of stops/clients, on
rules to be observed/control, on cooperation with colleagues and steering drivers,
on freight weight
The respondent works part-time as a motorized messenger, the other part of his
workload is a receptionist work at one of the branches. His daily agenda depends on
whether he attends to the reception desk, or delivers parcels as a messenger. At the
receptionist work he collects parcels from employees (they have a discount on DHL
services) or directly from people who come to the branch in person – at this case he
delivers on foot/by car/collects 60–70 parcels a day; however, these parcels are to be
delivered within the close vicinity, i. e. approx.10–12 stops. When working as a
messenger, he delivers/collects approx. 40 parcels.
The company has guidelines which govern arrangement of working hours (and each and
every process in the company) – according to the guideline the messenger has 3 minutes
for the parcel delivery (or arranging delivery formalities), 7 minutes for collecting a
parcel. Nevertheless, these guidelines are rather recommendations for an ideal process,
as messengers’ superiors understand that it always depends on the particular situation.
Messengers’ routes are fixed, while each messenger must learn several routes because of
substitutability. Routes can be exchanged (e. g. to avoid stereotype) – it is a matter of
agreement among messengers and a superior’s approval. Distribution along a particular
route can be accommodated to the messenger’s needs (which location to be visited first,
second, etc.). An exact route specification is told to the messenger only at his arrival to
work, the system is highly flexible and takes into account that some messenger may
become ill, etc.
Salaries and wages: information on the earning situation (CA applied?) and wage
components, bonus-malus system, deduction of fines; informal payments,
performance-based pay, customer tips; information on negotiation possibilities of
works councils, individual workers; awareness of being subject to CA?
The respondent did not want to talk much about wages and did not reveal his wage. The
wage consists of a fixed basis and a floating component (personal bonus) – the floating
component depends on superiors’ satisfaction, the employee’s performance (which is
based not only on how many items he delivers/collects) and it makes up 30–40%. If an
employee causes damage (e. g. he sends the parcel on a wrong address, or does not
check where the customer actually wants to send it – customers often confuse countries,
post code numbers, etc., or he causes damage to the company car), the personal bonus is
proportionally reduced (malus), nevertheless, to take the whole personal bonus away
from the employee he would have to cause a substantial damage.
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Chapter 2
Informal rewards (customer tips) are rather sporadic, 90% of customers pay services by
invoice.
The company also provides employees with various benefits – the employee has a
company car available, which is highly valued by the respondent. Employees are
regularly offered educational activities. Another bonus is a possibility to rent a large
company vehicle e.g. for house moving.
There is no collective agreement in the company.
Working Time Regulations: information on working time regulations and their
control in theory and practice as well as problems concerned with working time
(split-up work, flexible working time, on-call work, mode of working time
recording, pay of overtime, long working hours – determined by whom?)
Working time is regulated by the employment contract and is 9 hours long with a meal
break (that means 8 hours which is in compliance with the Labour Code) – from 9–9.15
a.m. to 6.00–6.15 p.m. The real working time depends on the particular route and the
number of parcels as well as their weight (to deliver a bulky item takes longer).
Overtime work occurs sometimes (when the messenger does not manage to distribute
parcels, he reports overtime work to his superior), but it is paid as a “standby duty”(i.e.
although the employee is at home, he must be ready to help anytime if need be).
Generally speaking, however, the allocated route and parcel distribution along the route
can be normally managed during the working time with a one-hour reserve.
When an employee needs to leave work earlier for private reasons, it is possible after
agreement with colleagues and superiors, the company strives to meet employees’
needs. Working hours are monitored; the messenger must arrive at the workplace not
later than at 9 a.m. and return back to the workplace till 6 p.m.
Working conditions in particular for migrant workers (need to get an employment
permit issued by the employer): influence of the national employment laws on
labour migration in terms of different status of foreign workers
It is not known that companies in the express parcel delivery industry in the Czech
Republic would employ migrants as messengers and drivers.
Quality of work: information on the individual perspective on the particular
working situation/working climate as a driver: could you identify typical
biographical trajectories of workers employed in the express parcel delivery
industry? Is de-qualification an issue? Is their ethnic origin an issue for their
employment in this sector? Does it play a role to be part of a transnational
corporation? Working climate (competitive, fearful, cooperative)? Career
prospects within and outside the company?
The respondent is content with his job, he like his job, he also likes driving. He also
appreciates employment certainty – in his opinion DHL is a large and stable company.
In the past (when DHL’s logo was still white, i. e. was not a part of Deutsche Post) he
considered his work for a transnational company prestigious, the new owner, according
to the respondent, slightly damaged the overall image of the company by various
changes, so nowadays to work in DHL is, in his opinion, no longer prestigious. Despite,
he is not considering a change and feels content.
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Chapter 2
The respondent regards the working climate as cooperative, and he does not see any
reason why he should compete with his colleagues.
The only thing he would like to change is his remuneration, which is, however, not
realistic for the time being due to the economic recession. He might work for DHL as
the self-employed as many messengers from their team, which would increase his
earnings (primarily thanks to the tax advantage of the self-employed), but to be an
employee is more comfortable for him, that is why he is not considering any change
even in this respect.
Possibilities for a career growth have been limited recently. In the past it was common
that an efficient messenger could be promoted up to the managerial posts, which is
nowadays rather exceptional. In the past the “American model” prevailed in the
company, when each employee had to start from the lowest position and the company
was training him/her step by step. At present, the company hires already experienced
people for higher positions, having experience in other fields.
Industrial Relations: interest conflicts at the worksite and unions’ or other
collectivities’ support or lacking support for drivers; Industrial relations within
and beyond the core company/ Relations to self-employed/contracted drivers;
personal experiences of drivers with unions, works councils or other forms of
collective unionising (e.g. over employers’ representatives)
Trade unions which would unite messengers and drivers do not operate in DHL. But the
respondent experienced trade unions in his former job, appreciated their activities and
would welcome their existence in DHL, especially now, when he feels that demands on
messengers are ever growing. However, he himself did not consider establishing trade
unions in DHL at all, he thinks “it would be by no means viable there”.
Complaints and problems are related first to working hours when most messengers
would prefer another arrangement of working time – nevertheless, this is unrealistic
because of the company activity and its customer-oriented approach. Another factor is e.
g. lack of working equipment and customer complaints. Messengers can discuss all
problems with superiors, either with the direct or indirect ones. The respondent’s
impression is that this communication works well and superiors make efforts to meet
messengers’ needs.
2.2.
SELF-EMPLOYED PERSONS
The interview was given by 3 self-employed people from Direct Parcel Distribution
(DPD), Professional Parcel Logistic (PPL, partner of DHL) and Dropick (a small Czech
company engaged in express delivery business with added value, i. e. they offer e. g. a
delivery of a contract and its signature etc.).
In all of these companies, according to respondents, messenger posts are prevailingly
occupied by the self-employed; some companies do not even have their own car fleet.
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Chapter 2
The position of such messangers (drivers) is then called “transport contractor” or
“haulier”.
Work organisation: information on the daily routine, number of stops/clients, on
rules to be observed/control, on freight weight, on type of work contract
(without/with a trade licence); hired by subcontractors or contractor (UPS etc.)
Companies DPD and PPL have their daily routine basically comparable: the driver must
make his car available in the morning (DPD at 5.30 a.m. PPL at 5.00 a.m.). Drivers will
have their cars loaded with parcels and receive a list of stops which average 60–80 stops
(it depends on the season, before Christmas it may be even 230 stops). Each driver has a
fixed route (or a region) – this route is allocated to him, i. e. he may not choose another
one. The region (route) is always the same, while each driver can arrange stops himself
based on his experience and knowledge of the region – a good planning of the route can
shorten distribution time significantly. When planning a route in PPL, it is also
important what kind of services it is (business to business, business to costumer,
evening delivery etc.) – different services have different delivery time requirements.
Equally, it depends on the driver whether he uses one car with one driver to distribute
parcels, or several cars with additional drivers; he is obliged to provide one car per day
for deliveries in the assigned region. Working time is conditioned by how many delivery
items the driver takes and how many stops he has.
The driver has a performance-based pay, so more deliveries and stops mean a higher
pay – drivers make thus efforts to take as many parcels as possible and attend to as many
addresses as possible. In reality, working time depends on the driver’s ability to plan the
route efficiently and to arrange stops along the route and on how fast he can deal with
the hand-over of the delivery to the customer etc. Working time ends around 6 p. m., but
some days the distribution ends even late at night.
Overtime work (the standard for employees’ working time is prescribed by the law
(262/2006 Coll., Labour Code to be 8 hours) is actually an everyday reality – twelve or
more hours of work are common and depend on the driver’s ability to distribute
assigned parcels. Reduced working time (less than 8 hours) is theoretically possible, but
in practice it is impossible to deliver the assigned number of parcels earlier than in 9–10
hours. However, it is caused by the said system of remuneration (depending on the
number of deliveries or attended addresses), when the driver tries to take and distribute
a maximum number of parcels.
Contracts with drivers stipulate rules which must be observed. They relate to the car
availability, company uniforms, in-time delivery of express parcels, etc. Drivers at DPD
are fined for their breach. These rules can be met in practice, although in DPD it is
difficult in some situations – the respondent mentions the fact that they have a
contractual limit number of shipments which they can bring back to the depot in the
evening – however, it is not always possible to meet the maximum permitted number of
parcels e. g. because the addressee is not at home, or does not have money to pay for the
cash on delivery item etc. These rules in either of the said companies cannot be altered
or influenced by drivers.
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Chapter 2
In both companies checks almost everything is regularly being checked – the most
important checking system is scanning of items, but it is also checked whether the driver
made his car available in time, halls where items are loaded are equipped with camera
systems, etc. DPD also inquires by phone whether customers were satisfied with their
services.
The situation in Dropick is slightly different, which is caused by the nature of the
company as well as services rendered. Working time of “distributors” is irregular, each
of them delivers approx. 25 items per day (range of 5–30 deliveries per day), when a
parcel must be delivered within three days after it was taken over by the distributor from
the company (more days can be agreed with company upon request). The distributor has
thus sufficient time to plan his route. During these three days he need not inform the
company about the item movement. His route (region) is also always the same, as the
company decided. To distribute the parcels he may use a bike, his own car or public
transport – the decision on the means of delivery is fully within his authority.
Mode of remuneration: information on the earning situation and components of
earnings, bonus-malus system, deduction of fines; performance-based pay,
customer tips; information on negotiation possibilities of prices for their services
In DPD and Dropick remuneration depends on the number of deliveries, in case of
Dropick it must be a delivery accepted by the customer – unless the customer accepts it,
distribution costs of such delivery are charged at the driver’s expense (a Dropick
messenger receives CZK 200 (EUR 8 approx.) per each delivery accepted by the
customer. Drivers in PPL are paid according to the number of stops.
In addition to that, the driver may get a bonus, but also fines. In PPL bonuses depend
also on the region – drivers in distant regions are compensated with a bonus for their
stops being more distant than e. g. in Prague. Both DPD and PPL commonly apply also
sanctions (sanction malus), e. g. late arrival to work, etc.
A monthly earning of a PPL driver (based on the daily invoicing) average to CZK
50,000–60,000 (EUR 2,000–2,400 approx.), but generally, it depends on conditions
agreed between the driver and the company – they are conditioned by details such as age
of the car the driver uses for deliveries, etc. – this, however, affects the price per stop by
no more than several CZK (EUR 0.04–0.07 approx.). Dropick averages to CZK 35,000–
40,000 (EUR 1,400–1,600 approx.). Dropick also organizes various motivational
corporate contests with prizes such as a mobile phone etc.
Remuneration (incl. benefits) of self-employed drivers (or small subcontractors), who
employ other messengers or drivers, fully depends on agreement between the employer
and the employee, i. e. the “parent” company does not intervene in this matter.
Tips are not reported and are kept by the driver who received it. The tip amount,
however, varies a lot and whether it is given depends on the customer; the sum,
according to the respondent’s statement, is enough “just for a coffee or a snack”.
None of the self-employed messengers we addressed can influence the amount of
earnings – chances for bargaining are zero, in one of the respondent’s words “one can
opt for signing the contract under these conditions, or leave”.
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Chapter 2
Coverage of social insurance
All the self-employed must make regular advance payments on social and health
insurance, so they are fully covered by insurance.
Working Time: information on working time and their determination (by
customers, himself, contractor?) and control in theory and practice as well as
problems concerned with working time
All respondents’ working time depends on the number of parcels the driver takes to
deliver and how many stops he has. The driver is paid according to his performance, so
more deliveries and stops mean a higher pay – drivers make thus efforts to take as many
parcels as possible and attend to as many addresses as possible. In reality, working time
depends on the driver’s ability to plan the route efficiently and arrange stops along the
route and how fast he can deal with the hand-over of the delivery to the customer, etc. In
PPL and DPD working time ends around 6 p. m., but some days the distribution ends
even late at night. Overtime work (the standard for employees’ working time is
prescribed by the Labour Code to amount to 8 hours) is actually an every-day reality –
twelve or more hours of work are common and depend on the driver’s ability to
distribute assigned parcels. Reduced working time (less than 8 hours) is theoretically
possible, but in practice it is impossible to deliver the assigned number of parcels earlier
than in 9–10 hours. However, it is caused by the said system of remuneration
(depending on the number of deliveries or attended addresses), when the driver tries to
take and distribute a maximum number of parcels. Self-employed drivers do not
complain about the number of deliveries and “overtime hours”, their only complaint
relates to financial remuneration.
Another situation again is described by the driver from Dropick, who manages to do his
work during ordinary working hours (8 hours). His working time is flexible and if he
manages to do his work earlier than in 8 hours, his working time ends earlier. Equally, it
is his decision whether he distributes parcels during morning/afternoon/evening hours.
In this respect it is only up to him to arrange his working time, in which his and previous
respondents’ situations differ.
Working conditions in particular for migrant workers – who may hold a trade
licence? What about cabotage?
No migrant workers, either as an employee, or as the self-employed, occupy the post of
a driver or messenger.
Quality of work: information on the individual perspective to the particular
working situation/working climate as a driver: could you identify typical
biographical trajectories of workers self-employed in the express parcel delivery
industry? Have they worked before in other sectors or as employed drivers? Is dequalification an issue? Is their ethnic origin an issue for their economic activity in
this sector? Does it play a role to be part of a transnational corporation? Working
climate (competitive, fearful, cooperative)?
In respondents’ opinion, a typical driver/messenger is a self-employed man, 25–40 years
old, who has been working for the company in the long run, or worked for a similar
company in the past. The turnover in these companies is generally low. Women occupy
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Chapter 2
this post rarely, although they exist there – in such case the same rules and remuneration
system apply to them as to men. The self-employed in large transnational companies do
not have basically any opportunity for career advancement. If a self-employed driver is
interested in career advancement (e. g. depot manager), it is possible only when he
becomes an employee. Certain career advancement is possible in Dropick – from the
distributor to the distributor supervisor, but in the respondent’s view it is rather not
realistic.
Self-employed drivers/messengers from DPD and PPL describe their work as
demanding, especially at the time of economic recession when this type of business
becomes demanding financially (higher costs of car fleet maintenance, wages to their
own employees, etc.), in terms of time (higher costs make the self-employed take and
deliver more items, introduce new services, e. g. delivery to private addresses which is
more time-demanding that delivery to companies etc.) and physically (handling heavy
loads). At the same time they however admit that they are not considering any change,
either in the form of becoming employed, for another (similar) company – it is a habit as
well as it results from a feeling of certain freedom (even though it is relative in the
messengers’ opinion, because corporate rules and regulations get constantly toughened)
regarding their chance to affect working time by the number of items accepted by them
for delivery. The respondent from PPL also talks about his work not being monotonous
and about necessity to respond to new situations and learn new things, which suits him.
In his opinion, PPL has sophisticated work procedures and organization of work, it
makes innovations, invests in development, from his previous job experience PPL is
probably the market leader in this respect. The driver working for DPD appreciates also
the fact that the company pays for work performed in time and regularly – from his
experience working for DPD is so far the best in his career as driver (in the past he
worked for PPL and other rather small companies).
The driver/messenger from Dropick is absolutely happy with his job and in no case he
would change it.
Working climate is described by the messenger from Dropick as informal, friendly and
helpful, so in this regard he is also fully satisfied. The PPL driver is also satisfied,
although in his case work is more or less separate, he is rarely in touch with his
colleagues – at these occasions they try to be mutually forthcoming. On the contrary, the
atmosphere among drivers in DPD is rather competitive, especially recently, when, in
order to increase transparency, routes are put out to tender. The company, in the
respondent’s opinion, encourages this competitive environment among drivers, since
drivers’ competition enables it to push prices down and negotiate with each driver
individually.
All the aforementioned companies organize various trainings also for the self-employed,
in case of Dropick it also includes training courses in partner companies (e.g. at
delivering mobile-operator contracts to end customers the messenger must attend a
training by the mobile operator to learn how to explain details of the contract to
customers, to be able to give them advice whom to contact in case of doubt etc.). In PPL
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Chapter 2
such trainings are compulsory and although they relate to performance of work and
innovations, the respondent considers them rather a useless waste of time.
Relations to unions/works councils of contractor/ member in employers’
organisation; personal experiences of drivers with unions, works councils or other
forms of collective unionising [information in particular gathered through the last
section of the interview guidelines for drivers and works councils]
In either of the aforementioned companies we do not find trade unions or an association
of the self-employed which might defend interests of the self-employed. With regard to
the working conditions described, the respondent from Dropick feels no need to
unionise or organise in other ways, he is satisfied with his working conditions.
Trade unions or an association of the self-employed do not operate in PPL, working
conditions of the self-employed are, in the respondent’s view, adequate, he does not feel
a need to express discontent and group with other drivers in this matter. He can imagine
a conflict rather among employees (overtime e. g. before Christmas), but as the
self-employed he himself decides to a certain extent how long he will work. Also at a
conflict with a customer, the company does not incline to the customer’s opinion
automatically and they try to be just, although it is understandable that the company
takes care of its good reputation.
In DPD, according to the respondent, there is a huge discontent among self-employed
drivers, the company sets rules, applies sanctions that, in the respondent’s opinion, are
not fair, but justice cannot be achieved – either he accepts this behaviour, or he must
leave. There were efforts to negotiate with the company management, management
meetings are organized, where self-employed drivers can convey their opinion, but in
the end working conditions never improved – DPD negotiates with each driver
individually and most drivers accept conditions set by the company – if not, they leave
for another company, another sector. The respondent finds unrealistic that an
organization could be established that would defend interests of self-employed
messengers even though there is an association uniting the self-employed in truck
transport within the company – however, it is, in the respondent’s opinion, an entirely
different group of drivers with a different job content, so that conditions for establishing
a similar association were far more favourable. However, it is ruled out for
self-employed drivers/messengers also for the fact that competition among them is
severe. Moreover, the company makes efforts to encourage the competitive environment
(e. g. by negotiating conditions with each driver individually) and is not interested in
establishment of trade unions or associations of the self-employed in the company.
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Chapter 2
LABOUR LAW REGULATIONS APPLIED (e.g. CA APPLIED)
The applicable law for employees is the Act no. 262/2006 Labour Code. If a company-level
collective agreement is concluded in the company (in this sector only Czech Post has one), it
applies to all employees of the company, regardless whether they are in trade unions, or not.
Some companies in the sector are also subject to a higher-level collective agreement (concluded
between the Trade Union of Transport and the Transport Union of the Czech Republic.
Nevertheless, the higher-level collective agreement in the Czech Republic rather defines
minimum requirements (usually slightly above the scope prescribed by the Labour Code) on
working conditions in the sector. Unless they are further detailed in a company-level collective
agreement, they cannot be regarded as above-standard.
MOST IMPORTANT EMPLOYMENT/BUSINESS FORMS FOR DRIVERS FOUND IN
THIS SECTOR
The most frequent form in this sector is self-employment – the post of driver/messenger is
occupied by the self-employed person with his own car, either by himself, or he employs other
drivers and owns several other cars. This form prevails throughout the sector, particularly in
transnational companies (DHL, DPD, PPL). This post is occupied by employees only rarely,
except for Czech Post, where even distributors work under employment contract.
MAIN PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED BY DRIVERS/WORKS COUNCILS/OTHER
REPRESENATIVES ACTIVE IN THIS SECTOR
The problems identified by drivers cannot be described as “sector-wide”. Although working
conditions in (particularly transnational) companies do not differ much, each driver views them
differently – therefore, a line must be drawn whether it is a particular driver’s (dis)satisfaction
in a particular company, or whether it is a problem of the entire sector. This fact is clearly
noticeable in case of self-employed respondents from PPL and DPD – in spite of the fact that
both are large transnational companies and working conditions (remuneration, arrangement of
working hours within a day, relation with the company) are very similar there, the respondent
from PPL is more content with his job and appreciates (save for minor exceptions) cooperation
with PPL, the prevailing feeling of the respondent from DPD is, by contrast, negative (severe
competition among hauliers, necessity to accept conditions determined by DPD without any
possibility to bargain, etc.). However, it cannot be impartially concluded that working
conditions are significantly better in PPL versus DPD, because naturally the responses are
influenced by the respondent, his personality, previous job experience, market knowledge, etc.
To summarize problems presented by drivers, they include particularly the following ones: a)
feeling of insufficient remuneration for work performed, b) necessity to accept conditions
defined by the company without any chance to bargain on them – it concerns particularly the
self-employed, but employees too (due to the absence of trade unions).
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Chapter 2
PRESENCE OF UNIONS AND EXAMPLES OF OTHER FORMS OF COLLECTIVE
REPRESENATION
There are almost no trade unions in this sector with the exception of Czech Post, where the
Trade Union of Workers in Postal, Telecommunication and Newspaper Services operates.
However, Czech Post is not a typical entrepreneur in this sector, since some of its activities
fall under the “postal licence”.
Large transnational companies are obliged to establish European Works Councils. Their
position in the Czech Republic, however, cannot be regarded as equal to the position of trade
unions. Apart from that, European Works Councils primarily intervene in the relation between
the employer and employees that are, though, not numerous at the driver/messenger post in this
sector. The self-employed, prevailing in this sector, are not organized and their interests are not
defended by anybody – the reasons why this occurs differ for the respective self employed and
companies. Nevertheless, the main reasons are that a) the self-employed do not have a need to
unite, working conditions are convenient for them, b) the self-employed do not have time for
activities connected with organizing, c) the company keeps the environment among drivers
competitive and eliminates any drivers’ efforts to organise in any form.
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Conclusions
CONCLUSIONS
The sector is typical for presence of transnational companies and a high number of the
self-employed at the post of driver. This structure has a significant impact on working
conditions in the sector. A typical driver in the sector is a self-employed man, 25–40
years old, who works as a “contractor” (transport contractor, haulier) for large
transnational companies. In some cases he also employs other drivers and often has an
extra income from other activities (moving, carriage). He cannot influence working
conditions, they are defined by the company he works for, without any chance to
influence them or modify them. Working time of the self-employed highly exceeds the
limit by the Labour Code (which is, though, not applicable to the self-employed). This is
caused by the fact that drivers are paid depending on the number of deliveries or stops –
this system motivates them to take and distribute as many parcels as possible (or to
attend to as many stops as possible) in order to compensate higher costs (in comparison
with employees) associated with this type of business (car fleet maintenance).Career
advancement from this position is practically impossible.
The post of messengers/drivers is rarely occupied by employees, although it happens.
Employees have generally better working conditions, are protected by the Labour Code,
have good prospects of job advancement unlike self-employed drivers, they get various
benefits from the company, do not bear costs associated with car fleet maintenance.
Despite, the self-employed respondents prefer this method of cooperation and do not
consider becoming employees – they are motivated by higher earnings, possibility to
optimize their income in terms of taxes as well as a certain (relative) feeling of freedom
(possibility to arrange working time flexibly, etc.).
With regard to the previous analysis it can be summarized that there is enormous room
for a trade union activity in the sector. Except for Czech Post where trade unions operate
but which unlike the other companies in the sector differs in its structure, number of
employees as well as portfolio of services, employees elsewhere do not unionise
although they think trade unions could improve their working conditions. Organizing of
any kind is not quite common for the self-employed (although it occurs as illustrated by
the example of DPD in the long-haulage division where drivers managed to organize
and defend their interests), but here again the respondents would welcome existence of
an organisation that would defend their interests, even though they are rather sceptical
regarding establishment of such organisation. If trade unions really want to gain
entrance to this sector, they must overcome the following obstacles:
 A high number of the self-employed who, by definition, cannot unionise – in this
regard trade unions would have to come up with another solution how to defend
interests of this group of drivers
 Working time which is not favourable for any organising – the priority is the parcel
delivery, any other activity can be done only after distribution is finished, which is
sometimes late at night; and
 Distrust of the self-employed and employees that trade unions (or another similar
organization) could even start activity in their working environment (competition,
drivers’ unwillingness to be engaged in something else than in parcel delivery)
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Literature
LITERATURE / SOURCES
Annual reports of DHL Express Czech Republic, PPL CZ, TNT Express Worldwide.
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addresses is a great challenge]. Dopravní noviny, 42/2009. available at:
http://www.dnoviny.cz/expresni-sluzby/prepravy-na-soukrome-adresy-jsou-obrovskouprilezitosti (cit 20. 9. 2011).
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