Barcelona’s Court number 31 has opened an investigation into Óscar Pierre Miquel, founder and chief executive of Glovo, following a complaint filed last week by the Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office. The accusation claims the company ignored multiple rulings from courts across Spain that determined the couriers were likely false self‑employed workers. The prosecutors contend Glovo chose this model to cut costs at the expense of its riders.
Glovo has long faced a tense relationship with the Ministry of Labor over its labor model. This ongoing clash has produced dozens of judgments from major courts and numerous inspections resulting in fines or requirings by the Labor Inspectorate against the company. Glovo’s majority owner is the German Delivery Hero, yet the complaint and the call for appearance in court focus on Pierre at this stage, with no current involvement listed for other top executives.
Since Glovo began operating in 2015, the company has accumulated close to 253 million euros in contributions and penalties to social security through various demands and sanctions. The Labor Inspectorate has required that tens of thousands of couriers, totaling forty thousand eight hundred eighty-nine, be registered as employees rather than solo contractors for the platform.
To substantiate the complaint, the Fiscalía cites eighteen court rulings, including a Supreme Court decision, that oppose Glovo’s labor model and indicate a relationship between the company and its couriers that resembles employees. It also points to seven prior inspections requiring changes in several cities, highlighting the push to regularize the workforce.
The prosecution notes that workers sometimes faced the obligation to pay their own social security contributions if they wished to continue providing services, a practice not authorized by labor law and one that undermines and eliminates the rights assigned to employees, including salary, working hours, rest, permits, vacations, and social security protections.
Working Relationship Scrutinized
The Ministry of Labor’s report to the Fiscalía describes how it forwarded the available evidence to the public body after confirming that Glovo failed to comply with requests to regularize its couriers. The Fiscalía states that Glovo did not demonstrate any of the requested points and only responded that the initial relationship between the parties was not maintained at the time of the request.
However, the complaint reiterates a frequently used argument by courts against the autonomy of the riders. It stresses that the couriers lack their own work organization because they operate within the framework implemented by Glovo. The company directs and organizes daily tasks through the mandatory digital platform, determines how the service is collected and delivered, sets the service price, and applies a system of production control through algorithmic management of the service.
Even with changes Glovo has introduced over the years in its app, the undeniable reality, according to the Fiscalía, is that workers have continued delivering under the same conditions as before and have not been recognized as employees. Authorities are pursuing a new round of sanctions against Glovo in major Spanish cities for continuing to operate under this labor model. The company reportedly budgets up to 430 million euros to cover these penalties.
The sole condemned party named is Óscar Pierre Miquel, who has served as the sole administrator of Glovoapp Spain Platform SL since July 2023. The document does not list the other founder, nor any other top executive, as party to the proceedings at this time.
These developments highlight a persistent dispute between Glovo and the Labor Department, continuing to shape the legal and employment landscape for gig workers across Spain and potentially influencing similar debates elsewhere in Europe and beyond.