Penal Code reform proposed by State clearly tries to criminalize its use. fake freelancers. In other words, companies that use people registered as employees for jobs that their employees need to do may be sentenced to imprisonment. imprisonment from six months to six years and a fine of six months to twelve months. The use of fraudulent self-employed is a practice that some companies resort to in order to reduce costs and gain flexibility as they can do without them at any time, as the worker bears the SSI premiums himself.
“This is a tailored suit for Glovo,” agreed several labor lawyers consulted. However, any company that applies for this figure and is identified by the Labor Inspectorate will be subject to such penalties, which have a long history, for example the meat industries. Yolanda Díaz, the second vice president and Minister of Labor, has already suggested that she is in talks with the prosecution to prosecute companies that violate new labor regulations on platforms approved in 2021.”‘rider law‘This will be fulfilled and rebel companies will attack the social and legal state’“, stated in Congress at the end of September.
Now these words take shape in the text of the amendments presented to Congress this Friday by the PSOE and United We Can. Sources from the purple wing of the government do not hide that the amendment to Article 311 of the penal code was specifically designed by the Yolanda Díaz department. The wording of the aforementioned article on crimes against workers’ rights has already been Opened the door to prosecute abuse, especially repeatedThis figure is faked by self-employed companies. However, the legal sources consulted acknowledged the difficulty of placing this practice in a criminal category, as until now this route had been reserved mainly for violations linked to the informal economy.
Three lines add to the proposed amendment to the penal code—and which still must go through the parliamentary process to be successful. “The same troubles [esos hasta seis años de cárcel] It will be applied to those who apply unlawful conditions to their workers by employing formulas unrelated to the employment contract, or who employ them against an obligation or administrative sanction. criminal.
Enforce the ‘driver law’
“It was the complement that the ‘Rider law’ lacked,” says a source from the industry consulted. And so far one of the stellar arrangements promoted by the Department of Labor has remained on paper, as two of the three main home delivery platforms have been despised. Most of Glovo and Uber Eats fleets are mostly “passenger” self-employmentdespite repeated sanctions Labor Inspection they both take. In particular, it is the first that even received a repetition penalty and had to pay more than 100m euros to the public treasury in recent years.
The argument these companies have used so far is that the working patterns they are penalized stem from past practices, and after each sanction they introduce changes in the algorithm and business organization to ensure they comply with the law. . . In addition, the records were appealed in the courts and they have not yet been sentenced by the high courts about them. Many of these cases have been postponed for various reasons, and inspections conducted more than four years ago are still not upheld or dismissed by the judiciary. And how soon until the end of 2023 Barcelona or Madrid’s TSJ will not decide on many of these cases.
That’s where the second part of the proposed addition comes in: “or protect them against a requirement or administrative sanction.” The government is focusing on the persistence of companies like Glovo in the workforce model, despite previous judicial and inspection disruptions. Alright The delay in penalty times is causing thousands of deliverymen to continue their activities as fraudulent self-employed. and other companies are reconsidering switching to this model to save on labor costs. In fact, Uber Eats began complying with the “Rider law” through a fleet of subcontractors and returned to working with freelancers three months ago, claiming it was necessary to compete on a par with Glovo.