The Law defines the concepts of a “digital platform company” and “digital platform employees”, accepting both dependent and independent categories of employees, trying to regulate the widespread phenomenon of the business models of digital platforms.

Dependent employees have an employment contract that provides minimum requirements, such as the method of calculating the remuneration, work schedule and rest periods, while independent employees have a services agreement, not governed by the labour status, that provides some minimum legal provisions, such as 12 hours of disconnection in a 24-hour period and the right of access to social security coverage etc.

This distinction, which caused so much discussion among interpreters and social partners worldwide, is therefore addressed in a peculiar way, as the law includes in its provisions both the way to perform the relationship.

The law requires the employer to inform both the categories about the services offered, to protect their private data, offer them a training programme in safety and health conditions, provide them with protective materials and transit insurance.

Health and safety rights, however, are stronger for dependent employees: employer have to take all the necessary measures for the effective protection of their life and health, informing them of the possible risks, maintaining adequate working conditions and preventing accidents and occupational diseases.

In addition, the new Law establishes that employer must inform the employee (and not independent employees) in writing of the risks related to their services, preventive measures, and the correct working methods on a case-by-case basis.

The Confederation for Production and Commerce (CPC) had a very active participation as an employer sector in the stage prior to the drafting of the law, participating in a tripartite roundtable that analysed and elaborated a report on digital platforms.

The Law is one of the first one to guarantee a minimum level of protection and safety to ‘gig’ workers. We reported on similar measures adopted by Canada in a recent law in this article.

Moreover, in this interesting comparative analysis by Ius Laboris, you can find also the view from other countries on the issue, such as Argentina, Brazil, Finland, Italy, Luxemburg, Mexico and Turkey. In Italy, for example, it reports that a law on food delivery riders was issued a few years ago, imposing an obligation on platforms to pay the public insurance on injuries and to respect the legislation on health and safety, but the specific content of these obligations does not have a statutory definition and is mostly defined by case law.

In Mexico, delivery personnel and drivers providing services with platforms are not considered employees and don't have access to a social protection.

Several proposals were presented to Congress to regulate hiring individuals through digital platforms, but no legislation has been passed yet. The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social signed an agreement with the major digital platforms in Mexico (DiDi, Uber, Rappi and Beat), to guarantee that the delivery personnel and drivers will receive all five major categories of coverage, including occupational health.