Resumen

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.

Digital labor platforms, for long operating outside traditional employment norms, are now facing a regulatory push. Through a set of legislative initiatives – the most notable of which is the so-called Ley Rider – Spain seems to be at the forefront of this international effort. This article, based on an 18 month-long extended qualitative case study involving various stakeholders, assesses the extent to which Spain has succeeded in re-embedding platform couriers within conventional employment relationships. Findings reveal mixed outcomes. While workers achieved fixed salaries, paid vacations, and social protection, outsourcing, involuntary part-time work, and intensified control and surveillance eroded expectations of fair treatment, autonomy, and mutual trust. The ineffectiveness of legal initiatives granting workers' representatives access to platform algorithms further highlights challenges

Palabras clave: Algorithmic management; Employment relationship; Ley Rider; Platform work