"There are no shortcuts when it comes to labour rights, whether you are distributing food or caring for the elderly."
With these words, the Spanish Minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz, has announced her ministry's intention to extend the Rider Law to domestic workers.
Speaking at the conference 'Fondos Europeos: Innovación para un crecimiento sostenible' in Madrid, she stressed that Spain was ready to "go one step further in this matter" by "regulating algorithmic transparency" and "transposing the European Platform Work Directive" at national level beyond the delivery sector.
The Rider Law, which was ratified in 2021, requires online delivery platforms to classify their couriers as employees rather than independent contractors and to guarantee greater algorithmic transparency.
For its part, the Platform Work Directive, approved at the end of April 2024, states that if facts trigger the existence of an employment relationship between the platform and its workers, it is up to the platform to prove the contrary, and no worker can be fired based on a decision taken by an algorithm.