On May 11, the Council of Ministers approved the decree of law that regulates the working conditions of home delivery men: Rider’s Law, that marks the position of the Supreme Court before the platforms that They kept the delivery men under the figure of “false self-employed” when according to this new law, they must be salaried. At that time, the Government gave a period of three months for companies to adapt to this new legal framework, And that deadline has just passed.
Riders, salaried or self-employed?
Not long ago home delivery was an exception: some businesses offered home deliveries, especially fast food or local restaurants, and to perform the service the same establishment had a delivery man who took orders by phone, through a slow system. and sometimes inefficient.
After the arrival of the delivery platforms, everything changed, since now virtually any business in any industry anywhere can offer home delivery. However, the speed of evolution of these platforms together with the business model they have managed until now, have made their work model very questionable.
An issue that has ended in which many riders (distributors) have sought to be salaried, while many of the platforms have ensured that the riders are autonomous since they have great autonomy, being able to choose the hours and places to workas well as providing its services to other delivery companies.
Rider Law: delivery companies must hire their workers as employees
In the month of May, the Third Vice President of the Government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, assured during the press conference after the Council of Ministers, that the Rider Law places Spain “at the forefront of international legislation on this matter, since there is no country in the world that has dared to legislate this.” Díaz repeated the idea that he had already expressed since the beginning of the processing of this law: “A young man on a bike is not an entrepreneur.”
“The affectation is absolute in each and every one of the companies in Spain”, the Minister of Labour, since “applies to digital platforms that use algorithms or artificial intelligence”.
This is due to the new decree adds the right to information, by which workers will be able to know the algorithms that affect their working conditions, as well as in the access and maintenance of employment, which includes the creation of the profiles of the delivery men. With these algorithms, it refers to the management systems that delivery companies use to manage their shipments, decide who delivers what based on their position, the route to follow to the destination, etc. and that they can also rate workers based on parameters such as customer reviews.
“We don’t want bosses who yell at us, or mobile devices that penalize us” explaining that “everyone should know the reasons that motivate certain business decisions, so they must know what the algorithm hides”.
Everyone should be able to understand how an algorithm affects their work. And this is the first legislation in the world that establishes this transparency, forcing companies to reveal labor decisions made by Artificial Intelligence systems.
– Yolanda Diaz (@Yolanda_Diaz_)
The position of delivery companies and distributors before the Rider Law
The Rider Law established a transitory period of 3 months, expired on August 12, for delivery companies to hire workers as wage earnersand not only those dedicated to the distribution of food but anyone who is dedicated to distributing any product.
Against the new Rider Law, contrary positions were raised: Just Eat has maintained an employment relationship with most of its distributors, for which it has celebrated this new regulation: “as generates necessary legal certainty to operate with two fundamental principles: to guarantee the rights of delivery people by giving them an employment contract and to ensure that all operators in the sector carry out their activity under the same rules”.
Another company in favor is mox-grouplast-mile logistics that ensures has applied the Rider Law since its creation in 2016. “The existence of legislation that regulates the sector marks a before and after”says Gregorio López Martos, Global CEO of Grupo Mox. “Necessary that all market agents have a legislative framework to adhere to in order to compete on equal terms and above all, so that the delivery men themselves know if their situation is legal or not”.
Even Some companies that expressed their disagreement at first, have been evolving in their approaches towards a more adaptive posture.
Thus, in the case of Stuartthe company has issued a new statement, in which he explains that “Although we continue to believe that a flexible model based on independent couriers would be the best for all parties, we wish to show our commitment to the Spanish market by complying with the requirements of the new legislation. In this sense, during the transition period, Stuart has already started a process of direct contracting of a significant part of its fleet. At the same time, and as contemplated by the new regulations, we will also have delivery men who come from professional fleets. Also, from Stuart we’re promoting an industry collective agreement that collects the peculiarities of the last mile delivery model. We understand, after studying in detail the existing agreements, that a fair labor relations framework is necessary for delivery people and that includes the operating model of digital platforms.
Glovo and Deliveroo’s response
However, not all companies have displayed Stuart’s positive attitude. A few days ago we explained the case of
According to , achieving and maintaining a position in the Spanish market “It would require a very high level of investment, with a very uncertain long-term potential return«, with which its economic viability could be affected.
In any case, and despite the fact that the company denies it, some of its employees assure that Deliveroo is leaving Spain because the Rider Law will soon come into force which was approved a couple of years ago after a trial in which it was ruled that the company must hire its riders and pay the costs of Social Security, as well as compensation in case of dismissal.
According to company data, currently has 113 employees in the country, while collaborating with 3,800 riders and 9,000 restaurants in 70 cities, and while Deliveroo currently operates in 12 markets around the world, during the first quarter of the year.
For your part another of the greats of the sector in Spain, announced in July that it would hire 2,000 delivery men to adapt to the law, slightly less than a fifth of its current fleet in our country. For the rest, Glovo is looking for ways to justify that they have the necessary independence so as not to be considered workers with “presumed employment”, the key to skirting the new legislation. Thus, the company would allow them flexible hours, reject orders, and even subcontract delivery men to do the work for them. The response from the unions was not long in coming,
On the other hand, the association has criticized the new Rider Law since it assures that it could cause “the destruction and precariousness of our work”, while the organization assures “which is an insufficient law” as it is specific to riders and leaves out other groups
Stay informed of the most relevant news on our news channel
Facebook Comments
Disqus