Photo: europarl.europa.eu
Parliament and Council negotiators reached a preliminary agreement on Thursday morning on a draft law aimed at improving the working conditions of people working through platforms.
The aim of the Platform Work Directive is to ensure that persons performing platform work have a correctly classified employment status and to correct false self-employment. The agreed text also introduces the first ever EU rules on algorithmic management and the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace.
Employee status
The new legislation introduces a presumption of employment (as opposed to self-employment), which applies where there are facts indicating control and procedure under national law and applicable collective agreements, as well as taking into account the case law of the European Court of Justice.
The Directive obliges EU countries to introduce a rebuttable legal presumption of employment at national level to redress the imbalance of power between the platform and the person performing the work on the platform. By introducing an effective presumption, Member States will make it easier to remedy fictitious self-employment.
The burden of proof is on the platform, which means that if the platform wants to rebut the presumption, it is up to the platform to prove that the contractual relationship is not an employment relationship.
New rules for algorithmic control
The new rules ensure that a person performing work on the platform cannot be fired or dismissed based on a decision made by an algorithm or automated decision-making system. Instead, platforms must ensure human oversight of important decisions that directly affect those performing work on the platform.
Transparency and data protection
The Directive introduces more protective rules for the data protection staff of platforms. Platforms will be prohibited from processing certain types of personal data, such as personal beliefs and private exchanges with colleagues.
The text also increases transparency by requiring platforms to inform workers and their representatives about how their algorithms work and how worker behaviour influences decisions made by automated systems.
Platforms will have to pass on information on the self-employed they employ to the relevant national authorities and to the platforms' workers' representatives, such as trade unions.
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The rapporteur, Elisabetta Gualmini (S&D, IT), said: 'After many hours of negotiations, I am pleased that we have reached a preliminary agreement today. This is a balanced text that protects workers, good employers and ensures a level playing field in Europe. It will also be the first time we will have EU rules on algorithmic management in the workplace. Greater transparency and accountability of algorithms and greater data protection for platform workers should become a real benchmark at global level. We have ensured that up to 40 million platform workers in Europe have access to fair working conditions."
Dragoș Pîslaru (Renew, RO), Chairman of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, said: 'This is very important. On behalf of the Committee, I welcome this preliminary agreement. It was concluded almost at the end of the extended time and it is the last opportunity to deliver on one of the key pieces of legislation that are part of the social pillar. This agreement will improve working conditions in the platform economy and increase transparency and accountability in the management of algorithms in the workplace."
Next steps
The agreed text will now have to be formally adopted by Parliament and the Council to enter into force.
Background
A 2021 analysis by the European Commission found that there are currently more than 500 active digital labour platforms and that the sector employs more than 28 million people - by 2025 this number is expected to reach 43 million. Currently, the work of at least 5.5 million of these workers may be misclassified as self-employment (false self-employment), meaning they lack important employment and social protection rights.
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