Spain's digital platforms demand new labor framework for delivery jobs

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Technology is changing the labor market. In just a few years we have seen how new jobs have emerged that did not exist before or how companies have appeared that have transformed the business landscape. And while the labor ecosystem does not stop changing, the laws that regulate it remains static, which has led those responsible for digital platforms to demand new measures.

According to a study by the European Commission last June, 11.6% of Spanish adults have worked for a digital platform, a figure only surpassed by the United Kingdom (12%). This figure reflects the weight that this sector has gained in the economy of our country that in 2018 has contributed 643 million euros to Spanish GDP, according to the report 'The economic contribution of delivery platforms in Spain', carried out by Afi for Adigital. This document also indicates that by 2020 this type of companies will generate 50,000 jobs.

This sector's development has not been accompanied by changes in the legal framework that facilitate their evolution and avoid uncertainty about how the regulatory framework of these new labor realities that require measures different from those intended for traditional jobs should be.

However, the debate also focuses on the types of contracts offered by digital platforms. This matter has been taken to the courts on different occasions and has had different results on whether or not it is false self-employed.

Legislative intervention that offers a framework of legal security seems more than necessary for digital platforms that, in addition, consider it the way to reconcile the interests of each other, guaranteeing decent jobs and the development of business activities that respond to social demand.

This issue was discussed in March by Adigital (Spanish Association of the Digital Economy), Spanish Association of Startups, Restoration Brands and ATA (Association of Autonomous Workers), who debated the need to find a formula that fits the new labor relationships that have arisen of digitization.

The General Director of Adigital, José Luis Zimmermann, considered it necessary to create a working table with representatives of the sector as well as workers and administration by the Government. He pointed out that an environment such as the current one, which is increasingly digitized, requires a legislative framework that responds to new forms of work.

In this line, the Executive Vice President of ATA, Celia Ferrero, pointed to the adoption of the figure of the digital trade based on the existing profile of the economically dependent autonomous worker (trade), which is the one that invoices more than 75% of its sales to a single client. ATA believes that the development of this figure would help workers to get better access to social protection and improve the conception of social coverage of the self-employed. Ferrero also stressed that unconventional forms of employment are increasingly widespread, not only in the field of independent work, but also in the salaried and that the important thing is to ensure social protection, whatever the type of work.

The President of the Spanish Association of Startups, Carlos Mateo, said that legal security is necessary to ensure investment and not endanger new business models. It is the way to guarantee stability to the workers and to allow the development of the companies. He also noted that it is not only the professionals who develop in delivery, but thousands of professionals who offer services in digital platforms.

The organizations agree that they should start talking about the particularities of these new work models. They emphasize that Spain is the only country where it has opted to prosecute the sector and demand that the example of countries such as France and the United Kingdom be followed. In France Zimmermann has indicated that "a series of obligations have been established for digital platforms in terms of assumption of contributions and a letter of rights and specific guarantees for these workers has been drafted." Regarding this, the British have commented that they have created a special category for these workers, which frames and offers protection to non-conventional employees.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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