“Spanish labor authorities tell Amazon to give more than 4,000 gig workers contracts: report”, 15 October 2020

Amazon.com has reportedly been ordered to give more than 4,000 drivers delivering packages in Barcelona and across Spain proper work contracts, and cover more than $7.2 million (€6.16 million) in back social security payments.

The demand from Spain’s Labor Inspectorate was reported on Thursday by El País newspaper … The report said the Labor Inspectorate has in the past few years been pursuing companies that use self-employed workers in jobs that it believes should offer full contracts with benefits.

The probe by Spain’s Labor Inspectorate, which stretches back to 2017, reportedly found 3,261 false freelancers at Amazon’s fulfillment subsidiaries in Madrid and Barcelona. It is demanding the company pay €5.16 million over those missing contributions. The investigation found 806 such workers at the Amazon Road Transport unit, with a demand of just under €1 million.

In September, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that food-delivery workers were employees rather than self-employed…