Law in the Books vs. Law in Action: Investigating the impact of regulations on working conditions in the parcel and food delivery sector

We are delighted to have received funding approval from the Swiss National Science Foundation for a three-year interdisciplinary research project. It starts in summer 2026!

Content and aim of the research project:

The project examines the parcel delivery sector from a legal, sociological and economics perspective and is being carried out jointly with the University of Geneva (Institute of Demography and Socioeconomics, Prof. Dr. Jean-Michel Bonvin) and Bern University of Applied Sciences (Management Sciences, Prof. Dr. Caroline Straub).

It examines how laws and regulations can help to improve working conditions in the Swiss parcel and food delivery service - and why this is succeeding or failing. This sector is growing strongly, but is characterized by low wages, time pressure and difficult working conditions.

The research question is: "Under what conditions can a regulatory framework (both in terms of its content and its implementation, control and sanction mechanisms) contribute to better working conditions in the parcel and food delivery sector?"

The main objective is to understand when binding regulations really make a difference in practice and which obstacles prevent good rules from being implemented in the everyday lives of drivers.

In addition to this core objective, the project aims to paint a current picture of working conditions, show how companies, public authorities and employees react to new rules and jointly develop solutions that enable fair work and are economically viable at the same time.

The interdisciplinary collaborations will produce findings that are important not only for the supply industry, but also for other areas of the 21st century world of work.

academic and social context

The project is at the intersection of labor law, sociology and economics and responds to current challenges in the modern world of work. It examines how regulation and practice interact - a subject of great social importance in the face of growing platform and delivery work.

Planned approach

Our research follows the following steps. First, the basis for the empirical study will be created: What data and what is the state of research on the parcel and food delivery sector, i.e. what are the actual working conditions in the sector and how are they assessed by key actors in the field? In this first research step, we also want to find out what influence relevant labor law provisions and applicable collective agreements have on the working conditions and quality of work of employees in the parcel and food delivery sector. To this end, we will first examine the current regulations (laws and CLAs), taking into account case law; we will also include foreseeable changes (e.g. new CLAs, recent court rulings, legal reforms). In the second step of our project, we analyze how the passing and changing legal regulations influence the strategies of employee representatives as well as the decisions of HR management in dealing with employees and the collective bargaining strategies of employee representatives. This leads to the final phase of our research, in which we identify potentials for recommendations for action.

Access to Justice in the Context of Social Inequalities

KOAMI is currently involved in a proposal to the German Research Foundation DFG [ https://www.dfg.de]. This is an overall project under the coordination of the Social Science Research Center Berlin [ https://www.wzb.eu/de], which uses several sub-projects from higher education institutions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to research how social inequalities influence access to justice and the enforcement of rights.

The overarching project focuses on the differences between formal legal entitlements and their actual implementation in practice. Through interdisciplinary research, the project analyzes which social, institutional and legal factors promote or hinder access to justice. At the same time, social science legal research in German-speaking countries is to be strengthened.

Fortunately, the overall project overcame the first hurdle in spring 2026. KOAMI has been invited to submit a full proposal together with the other participating higher education institutions and present it to the review panel in Berlin at the end of 2026.

Collaborations with Gesine Fuchs from HSLU

Our sub-project will be submitted and supervised by Dr. Nic Frei and Prof. Dr. Gesine Fuchs from the higher education institution Lucerne [ https://www.hslu.ch/de-ch/hochschule-luzern/ueber-uns/personensuche/profile/?pid=3203 ].

What is our sub-project about?

Our sub-project examines access to justice and the legal mobilization of female employees in the Swiss labour market. The focus is on the question of how certain mechanisms and institutional regulations of Swiss collective labor law can contribute to the effective enforcement of individual rights and strengthen access to justice. Legal mobilization is understood as an expression of functioning access to justice and includes not only judicial procedures but also informal or rhetorical forms of law enforcement.

The project builds on older research on CLAs and social partnership institutions and links these with current developments in the world of work. In particular, it examines whether collective labor law instruments are suitable for reducing social inequalities and improving access to justice.

The social partnership is a central component of the Swiss political system. Negotiations and compromises between employers and employees have traditionally characterized industrial relations. At the same time, the labor markets are increasingly changing: flexible and atypical forms of employment such as part-time work, work on demand or temporary work are on the rise. These developments often lead to precarious employment relationships in which economics risks are transferred to employees without adequate legal or social protection being passed on. Weakly organized sectors with little union representation are particularly affected.

Against this backdrop, the project analyses collective legal instruments such as class actions or collective enforcement mechanisms that enable the relevant actors to assert rights and also support non-unionized employees. The focus here is on the tension between formal law ("law in the books") and its actual implementation in practice ("law in action"). It examines the extent to which collective law enforcement can help to balance out structural power imbalances in the labor market and strengthen the practical effectiveness of labor law protection rights.

Commentary on the Co-Determination Act (MitwG), published by Stämpfli-Verlag in July 2025.

Commentary on the Federal Act on the General Binding Nature of Collective Employment Agreements (AVEG), to be published by Stämpfli Verlag in 2027

As part of the Collective Labor Law course, students are confronted with this fascinating and important area of law, deal intensively with a specific CLA and conduct interviews with the respective social partners.