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A social affairs court in Valencia has ruled that 97 delivery riders for the meal delivery company Deliveroo were forced to operate as independent workers, without the freedom to choose. As a result, Spain’s social security system is entitled to claim the corresponding social contributions from Deliveroo. While other judgements have previously been handed down as regards the status of people working for Deliveroo and other digital platforms operating in Spain, this is the first time that the procedure arises from a direct complaint by the country’s Ministry of Labour. The ruling is not final, and could be appealed, but it is significant as it comes at a time when a court in Madrid is soon to rule on a similar complaint, concerning the status on 532 riders. In this case, the social security inspectorate is demanding that Deliveroo hand over 1.2 million euros of unpaid social contributions. Deliveroo classifies its riders as independent workers, who can choose their working hours and make use of their own tools to do the job, namely a bike and a mobile phone. The court in Valencia refuted these arguments, however, stating that “the real means of production are not the bike or mobile phone used by the rider, but the digital platform to connect supply and demand, owned by the company”. The ruling also indicates that freedom as regards working time is only relative, as it has been proven that the algorithms can favour or disadvantage riders in this area.
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