Deputy presiding officer Jennifer Ng Che-ling ruled in the first case that the so-called self-employed workers were employees of Zeek.

She said whether an employment relationship existed depended on key factors such as who exercised control, and who provided the digital platform as a business tool.

Mak Tak-ching, a member of riders’ concern group that helped the claimants, said: “The case is monumental in defining digital platform workers as employees, and that should have a knock-on effect on other delivery platforms.”

He estimated that more than 100 former Zeek couriers were waiting to file claims for wages owed to them and some would apply for a security fund from the Labour Department.

Lawmaker Kwok Wai-keung, who represents the labour sector, said the ruling could affect couriers across other delivery platforms and many more in the city’s growing gig economy.

“It was a shocking ruling that could potentially change how deliverymen understand their employment status. I believe it will bring change to the whole digital platform industry in the delivery sector only if the platforms conduct a full review to determine whether they need to change their ways of doing business,” he said.

But he added that change would be a slow process, as platform owners could easily turn a blind eye to the case.

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Hong Kong employers must provide staff with insurance coverage against injury or death while at work.

But, without a recognised employment relationship, employees could be denied work-related insurance and other basic legal protections such as those to ensure payment of wages, restrictions on wage deductions and time off on public holidays.

Major delivery platforms, which have long regarded their delivery workers as self-employed, have not said if they will re-examine employment agreements in the wake of the tribunal ruling.

A Deliveroo spokesman said the company would upgrade its worker insurance by mid-August, along with the introduction of some rewards for fuel and vehicle maintenance.

He added that the company used more than 10,000 riders, and a recent poll showed that four-fifths liked the flexibility that came with the job.

Foodpanda and Lalamove said they gave their delivery riders insurance and emergency support. The former said it had increased medical expenses coverage for those involved in accidents.

Lingnan University associate professor Lisa Leung Yuk-ling, who has done research on food couriers from ethnic minority groups, said many were not aware of their rights or access to insurance coverage.

Many signed up to work without having any legally binding employment contract, she said.

“When workers need a job so desperately, they are forced to accept hardship.”

Leung said the tribunal ruling was a “breakthrough” for workers and that she hoped it would encourage more to fight for their rights.

The Zeek rider who won his case on July 25 was awarded a month’s unpaid wages of about HK$8,000.

The 49-year-old, who identified himself only as Yue, said he worked with the company last September, collecting and delivering parcels for almost 10 hours a day.

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He said he was aware of the risks of being regarded as a self-employed worker.

“I just thought I’d give the job a try, anyway,” he said. “I was quite disappointed and helpless when the salary did not come in October.”

He turned to the Riders’ Rights Concern Group of the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee for help.

Yue said the experience with the courier firm had put him off being a delivery man again.

“The employers always have all the means to find loopholes in the law and make you a self-employed worker. You have no choice because you are a disadvantaged group.”

Yue added he was pessimistic over whether would be major change in the sector any time soon, despite his victory.

Lawyer Roger Lam Ching-man, who has dealt with labour rights cases, said the tribunal ruling would have a limited impact on other platforms, as it had “no binding effect on further cases”.

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Unless there was an appeal to a higher court, whose decisions and rulings were binding, he did not expect the Zeek case to be a reference for similar ones.

Lawmaker Kwok, of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, suggested that the government review employment legislation to give couriers more protection.

A “Riders’ Law” introduced in Spain in 2021 treats delivery platform operators and their workers as being in a dependent employment relationship.

Kwok said: “The authorities should come up with a solution as soon as possible. It is a pressing matter that can tolerate no delay.”

A Labour Department spokesman said it would “continue to explore appropriate measures for enhancing the protection for platform workers”, including examining measures adopted elsewhere.

But he added that the effectiveness of other countries’ policies or measures remained to be seen.

The department said it had also asked the Census and Statistics Department to carry out a survey on the profile and working conditions of staff in the sector.