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Spanish Labour Ministry hails ‘epic’ new gig economy law forcing disclosure of algorithms

SPAIN has passed law that classifies food delivery workers as employees of the digital platforms they work for, following court rulings to that effect in Britain and Italy.

The legislation also includes a groundbreaking requirement for companies operating the platforms, such as Glovo and Deliveroo, to hand over to their workers’ legal representatives information about how their algorithms and artificial intelligence systems function in assigning jobs and assessing performance.

Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz of the Communist Party of Spain said the new law was “pioneering” and would “modernise the labour market” in Spain.

The “epic” new rule on disclosing how digital systems work will “neutralise algorithm punishments,” she said.

The Spanish law has been negotiated with trade unions and business representatives, but delivery firms immediately announced they would be fighting it.

The Association of Service Platforms said disclosing algorithms would “undoubtedly have a very negative effect on the development of the digital economy,” while Deliveroo claimed that the measures would “lead to less work for riders, will hurt the restaurant sector and restrict the areas where platforms can operate.”

Uber said Spanish couriers did not want to be classified as workers and pointed to protests it said showed they wished to remain “independent.”

Spain’s Supreme Court ruled last September that food delivery riders were employees, prompting the government to start work on the law. British authorities have so far ignored calls to pass similar legislation despite a landmark victory for Uber drivers in the Supreme Court last month.

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