Uber Eats defies Spanish regulations and returns to operate with a fleet of autonomous ‘riders’ in Spain. The announcement comes after a one-year hiatus during which the US multinational has outsourced salaried messengers in order to adapt to the Rider Law, which for a year has established that the relationship between messengers and platforms must be labor , with exceptions.
Sources from the multinational confirm to this newspaper that since this Wednesday, Uber Eats has activated a new hybrid model, which allows couriers to choose whether to distribute as self-employed or continue as subcontracted employees through courier companies.
“It is still early to determine how many ‘riders’ will choose to return to the self-employed model, but we have received thousands of requests since a couple of weeks ago we activated a pilot test in small municipalities such as Lleida, Albacete or Jerez”, indicates a spokeswoman for the company that confirms the information advanced by El Periódico.
Uber Eats chooses to avoid the requirements of the Rider law, which since August 2021 establishes a presumption of employment in the relationship between riders and platforms. The company follows the same path as the Catalan company Glovo, which has always followed the self-employed model despite the actions of the Labor Inspectorate.
According to Uber Eats, the company avoids the Rider Law because its new model allows the autonomous rider to set the price of the order, know the details of the collection and delivery as well as the distance to be collected. The company also undertakes not to penalize the courier if he chooses to reject the order and removes the feedback he receives from the user.
