Delivery riders in Spain now employees
MADRID — The Spanish government on Thursday announced legislation that classifies food delivery riders as employees of the digital platforms they work for, not self-employed, in a legal change that could have far-reaching consequences for Spanish businesses.
The legislation also includes a groundbreaking requirement for companies operating the platforms, such as Glovo and Deliveroo, to hand over to their workers’ legal representatives information about how their algorithms and artificial intelligence systems function in assigning jobs and assessing performance, among other aspects.
Labor Minister Yolanda Diaz said the new law is “pioneering” and is part of “a modernization of the labor market” in Spain, updating regulations in accordance with technological developments to ensure workers’ rights are upheld.
The legal changes are the latest affecting companies and workers in the gig economy. Last month, Britain’s top court ruled that Uber drivers should be classed as “workers” and not self-employed, in what was seen as a major setback for the ride-hailing giant.
The Spanish government agreed on the new law with the country’s main business groups and trade union confederations.
But the law, which is expected to come into force within months, was quickly contested by an association of digital platforms providing food delivery services and by some riders who prefer the flexibility of being self-employed.
In a statement, the Association of Service Platforms said that the rule on disclosing algorithms is “a measure which undoubtedly will have a very negative effect on the development of the digital economy in Spain.”
Re “Boundaries are being erased in American culture” (Other Views,
March 5): Thank you Cal Thomas for showing all of us why we absolutely need to pass the Equality Act to protect our LGBTQ brothers and sisters from bigotry and discrimination. No one is suggesting that anyone would be “granting special rights” as you erroneously write in your column. In fact the act would protect people in their normal course of life, as you yourself enumerate: “‘including employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service.’ ”
Why would a “deep-rooted connection to their Christian faith” be a legally valid excuse for Americans trying to discriminate against other Americans who are just trying to live their lives? You ask if there are any standards anymore, I can tell you emphatically yes, and it is embraced by many who truly have a “deep-rooted connection to their Christian faith”: Matthew 7:12 “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Tamara Hamlin, Virginia Beach