How can pay2fly be legal?
My understanding of employment laws in Europe, although they vary from one country to another, is that there is a minimum wage of around €8 per hour. This is designed to protect the employee to some extent. Any employer also must comply with a miriad of other legal requirements such as having employee liability insurance and is bound to provide a "duty of care" to workers.
How then can anyone paying to occupy the R/H seat in an airliner be legal? He is not getting the legal minimum wage yet he must hold a professional certificate to be there and at the same time denying the position to other, trained and experienced pilots, trying to earn a living from being there. What contract are these guys on? Surely if they are paying the airline then they are the employer employing the services of a crew, an airframe and pax? They have chartered the flight?
The flightdeck is a place of work and he must be a worker! If not what is he? What "duty of care" is there when the employer is charging the employee instead of paying him?
If he is NOT an employee then surely this has legal ramifications? The aircraft insurance covers professional crews who are employees of the airline, not "pleasure flyers!"
Note definition of professional:
A professional is a member of a vocation founded upon specialised educational training.
The word professional traditionally means a person who has obtained a degree in a professional field. The term professional is used more generally to denote a white collar working person, or a person who performs commercially in a field typically reserved for hobbyists or amateurs.
In western nations, such as the United States, the term commonly describes highly educated, mostly salaried workers, who enjoy considerable work autonomy, a comfortable salary, and are commonly engaged in creative and intellectually challenging work.[1][2][3][4] Less technically, it may also refer to a person having impressive competence in a particular activity.[5]
Because of the personal and confidential nature of many professional services and thus the necessity to place a great deal of trust in them, most professionals are held up to strict ethical and moral regulations.
So what if our wannabe has an accident in the workplace? Who would be liable? What if he caused an accident? Could he be held personably liable?
I am sure the airlines in question have lawyers who have cleared the practice but I feel it really should be tested in a court of law?