The birth of home delivery applications such as Deliveroo or Glovo has started the eternal debate about their work model focused on delivery people, known as "riders", and which calls for regulation of digital platforms . These are self-employed workers whose job is to deliver, mainly by bicycle, the orders made by users of the apps that have become so popular in recent years. However, many are of the opinion that delivery people from companies such as Deliveroo and Glovo should not be self-employed, but rather salaried employees of the company. The controversy, accentuated by the tragic death of a Glovo "rider" in Barcelona and which highlighted the precariousness of their conditions, is served.
Although companies such as Stuart, Uber Eats, Foodora or Rappi are also in the spotlight, this week it is Deliveroo that is making headlines. The 19th Social Court of Madrid has ruled in favour of the Social Security Treasury, determining that the Deliveroo workers who filed the suit (more than 500) were subject to an employment relationship. That is, they are employees, not self-employed .
Deliveroo, for its part, believes that “ the ruling does not reflect the way in which riders collaborate with the company ” and has declared that it will appeal the ruling. According to company sources, “Deliveroo collaborates with self-employed riders, since this modality allows them to have the flexibility and control they want. As self-employed, riders can choose whether or not they want to work, as well as when, how much and with which company to do so.” The goal of the home delivery service will be to achieve a legislative change: “Deliveroo has continually advocated for legal reform that allows companies to offer self-employed riders more security, without jeopardizing the flexibility that riders themselves have told us they want. This is therefore what we must all try to offer them.”
A defeat. For the first time, in June 2018, the Spanish courts declared that its delivery drivers are false freelancers , ruling in favour of Víctor Sánchez, one of the company's "riders". In May of that same year, the company announced free accident insurance covering all its riders around the world.
However, even though the ruling announced this week ruled in favour of azerbaijan phone number the workers, other rulings have supported the business model of these platforms. At the beginning of June in Barcelona, the Spanish courts ruled for the 5th time that there is no employment relationship between Glovo (in this case) and the delivery workers.
Spain is not the only country where there is a great debate about the employment model of these companies. In the United Kingdom, it is the only country where a case has reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Deliveroo. However, the model can be questioned again at any time, according to La Vanguardia.
For several months now, riders have joined forces on the Riders X Derechos platform to defend the rights of these professionals under the powerful hashtag #GlovoMata.
The figure of digital TRADE
Last week, the Spanish Association of the Digital Economy (Adigital) , together with its associate members Glovo, Stuart, Uber Eats and Deliveroo, presented its regulatory proposal on the employment model of these platforms. The association advocates adapting the TRADE regime to the new digital models, a figure that starts from the so-called Economically Dependent Self-Employed Worker, a self-employed person who obtains 75% of his income from a single client, and providing him with greater coverage and protection.
For the time being, and until there is new regulation on the matter, the platforms continue to operate as before in a context sadly characterized by chaos and confusion.