Just Eat Spain filed a lawsuit last Friday, November 29, against Glovo before the Commercial Courts of Barcelona, bringing an action of unfair competition for violation of rules and hiring false self-employed workers and claiming 295 million euros in damages. , according to the delivery platform in a statement.
Precisely this Monday, Glovo has announced a change in its employment model and will hire its delivery drivers in Spain, which will allow the delivery company to operate with labor delivery drivers instead of self-employed workers.
Just Eat recalls in its lawsuit that numerous rulings have condemned Glovo for hiring delivery drivers as false self-employed workers and violating Labor Law regulations, which is why it places Just Eat Spain in a “clear situation of competitive disadvantage,” since this company It does hire paid delivery drivers, incurring high additional costs, as required by law.
Savings of 645 million for Glovo
In this way, Just Eat Spain estimates that Glovo has saved more than 645 million euros by hiring false self-employed workers in recent years, which has allowed it to acquire a significant competitive advantage.
Just Eat Spain has recalled that it is a pioneer in the delivery platform market where it has operated since 2010, with a staff of more than 2,500 people and was the first platform to sign a company collective agreement with the main unions in the country. in December 2021.
Glovo announces that it will hire delivery drivers
A ruling that is known just the same day that Glovo has reported a new model in Spain that will allow it to operate with labor distributors instead of self-employed workers, pointing out that its decision is part of its “firm commitment to Spain and to the promotion of the digital economy in the country.”
The model change will include all cities in which Glovo is available, which currently exceeds 900, and will apply to all verticals of the application.
In this sense, the company has assured that its new model will at all times maintain the user experience and that of the restaurants and establishments that collaborate with the application throughout the country.
In parallel, the company will open a dialogue table with social agents to provide all the guarantees to the process and ensure that the change in operations is developed with consensus. This forum will be open to the rest of the sector’s operators so that they can carry out similar transition processes and join the agreements reached.
The decision was made public the day before the company’s CEO, Óscar Pierre, declared himself under investigation in the investigation phase of the criminal process initiated by the Prosecutor’s Office for an alleged crime against workers’ rights.
The criminal process, which is in the investigation phase, arises from a complaint filed by the public ministry, which accuses the company of the alleged commission of crimes related to workers’ rights, including possible fraud in hiring based on actions of the Labor and Social Security Inspection.
In the complaint, to which Europa Press had access, the prosecutor’s office accused the company of undermining and suppressing the rights of workers due to their status as false self-employed workers and asked to summon Pierre to take his statement as an investigator.
The CGT union announced this Monday that it has appeared in the criminal procedure against Glovo initiated by the Prosecutor’s Office “with the aim of putting an end to abusive and fraudulent practices that threaten dignity and labor rights.”
The CEO of Glovo, Óscar Pierre, is expected to declare himself under investigation in the investigation phase in the 31st Investigative Court of Barcelona this Tuesday, December 3.
From CGT they regret that, although there are previous judicial procedures that establish that the ‘riders’ have an employment and non-commercial relationship with this company, the company “has continued to impose such conditions on its staff, alleging alleged modifications that would seek to circumvent the employment relationship, forcing to register as self-employed.”
In this way, the CGT criticizes that the ‘riders’ are deprived of “the guarantees and rights that the regulations reserve for workers in the general Social Security regime”, facts that could constitute a crime punishable by penalties of up to 6 years. of prison and up to 12 months of fine.
Impact of 100 million for Glovo
For its part, the German platform Delivery Hero, owner of Glovo, has estimated that the change in the work model of its subsidiary in Spain will have an impact of around 100 million euros on its gross operating result (Ebitda) adjusted for the year. fiscal 2025.
Likewise, the German company expects to increase the general contingency in its 2024 full annual report to between 440-770 million, compared to the 330-550 million indicated in its 2024 semi-annual financial report.
This amount covers social security contributions, fines, VAT claims and other payment charges covering the period until the end of 2024 for Glovo Spain, he explained.
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