Employee status in Spain

New legislation in Spain, giving employee status to delivery workers (see Labour Research, March 2021, page 8) has now been passed.

It was adopted as a royal decree last month and, as such, does not require further debate in the Spanish parliament. It will come into effect after three months.

The final form of the legislation applies to all those delivering consumer products via an online platform, not just those delivering food.

It also includes a requirement that the platforms must give employee representatives (works councils) information about the algorithms they use in their business that affect workers.

These can have a major impact on who is offered work. While the unions have welcomed the new legislation, they are still calling for employee status to be given to all platform workers.