Once again, delivery platform Glovo has been fined nearly 57 million euros for illegally employing bogus self-employed workers and foreigners without a work permit. However, the platform from Madrid seems to care little about the arrival of the Rider law from 2021.
The Spanish labour inspection announced that it had fined delivery company Glovo for a total amount of €56.7 million. In Spain, the company has already received €205.3 million in fines, according to sources from the Ministry of Employment.
Rider law should improve the working situation of delivery drivers in Spain
In August 2021, the Spanish government approved the so-called ‘Rider law‘ that should regulate the working situation of delivery drivers, such as Glovo and Uber. Almost all delivery drivers are bogus self-employed. There is no registration of the hours worked, they have to deal with extreme uncertainty about their work and how many hours they can work each week and are often responsible for the maintenance of their transport.
What does the Rider Act do?
The main change with the arrival of the Rider Act is that an employee is assumed to be an employee. This is instead of a self-employed person. The law therefore obliges the employer to employ these people when they are regularly deployed to provide services. Spain was the first EU country to do so following a landmark legal ruling. Nevertheless, the situation for these deliverers still hardly seems to have improved.
Why has Glovo been fined?
The latest sanction of €56.7 million, recently imposed on Glovo Madrid, is because the company still employs 7,022 bogus self-employed people. Glovo will be fined almost €52 million for this because these people are not registered in the social security system and because Glovo has not paid their social security contributions. The remaining fine is for Glovo employing 813 foreigners without work permits on an illegal and irregular basis.
As mentioned, this is not the first time Glovo has been fined. A total of €205.3 million in fines have been issued for non-compliance with the Rider Act. To date, 37,348 people have been victims of all delivery platform violations. Glovo told Spanish newspaper RTVE.es that the majority of the sanctions predate the entry into force of the Rider Law.
