Spain: The new ‘Rider Law’ presumes employment status and imposes information duties on algorithms
Spain Labor Alert
Royal Decree-law 9/2021, of May 11, which modifies the revised text of the Workers' Statute Law, approved by Legislative Royal Decree 2/2015, of October 23, to guarantee rights employment of people dedicated to delivery in the field of digital platforms, establishes a presumption of employment in the field of digital delivery platforms and new information obligations on algorithms.
The regulation, published in the Spanish Official Gazette (BOE) of May 12, introduces a new twenty-third additional provision in the Workers’ Statute, which presumes to include within its scope the activity of people who provide remunerated services consisting of the delivery or distribution of any consumer product or merchandise, by employers who exercise business powers of organization, direction and control, directly, indirectly or implicitly, through the algorithmic management of the service or working conditions, through a digital platform.
It also adds a new section in article 64.4 of the Workers’ Statute, by which the works council will have the right to be informed by the company of the parameters, rules and instructions on which the algorithms or artificial intelligence systems are based that affect decision-making that may affect working conditions, access to and maintenance of employment, including profiling.
This royal decree-law will enter into force three months after its publication in the BOE.
