Spain: still in the independent workers vein, the Spanish Labor Inspectorate registers Barcelona’s Deliveroo riders as employees as regards the social security scheme

Spain’s Labor Inspectorate is claiming €1.3 million from meal delivery service Delieroo in lieu of missed social security contributions for its Barcelona-based delivery riders. The authorities consider the business relationship between both parties to be an employment relationship and not a business relationship and as such Deliveroo must contribute to the general social security scheme instead of the special independent workers’ scheme. The authorities argue that because (i) the company organizes the terms of the service provided and (ii) that refusal by riders to undertake the tasks will lead to negative consequences, the relationship is more akin to an employment relationship. The decision comes after a similar re-qualification of Valencia-based riders (this time the amount claimed was €160,000).Deliveroo is taking legal action to contest these latest decisions.