Important steps towards the improvement of working conditions in platform economy

Today, the European Commission proposed a set of measures for the protection of platform workers and the sustainable growth of platform economy.

The proposed package includes three interventions:

-A non-legislative communication on the EU approach and initiatives on platform work.
-A legislative proposal for a Directive on improving working conditions of people involved in platform work.
–Draft guidelines interpreting the application of EU competition law to collective agreements of the solo self-employed, including the self-employed in platform economy, which will be open to feedback from stakeholders and will, if applicable amended, be published in their final version in the second quarter of 2022.

The proposed Directive is based on a legal rebuttable presumption that if a person working through a platform meets two of a series of pre-established criteria, then he/she is to be considered as an employee enjoying the rights linked to the employment status, meaning labour rights (a minimum wage, working time, collective bargaining, paid leave, protection against work accidents) and social benefits (unemployment benefits, sickness benefits, old-age pensions). Additionally, the proposed Directive includes provisions regarding the use of algorithms by digital labour platforms and the balance between human monitoring and automated decisions when they affect working conditions.

The proposed draft guidelines on the application of EU competition law to collective agreements of solo self-employed persons aim to ensure that certain agreements will not trigger the European Commission’s intervention under the EU Treaties, for instance where solo self-employed struggle to influence their working conditions because of a weak bargaining position.

The European Commission estimates that its proposed measures will create better working conditions for more than 28 million people working through platforms and may lead to the re-classification of up to 4.1 million people as employees.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: ”After two phases of consultations among the social partners on the content of the suggested measures, we are pleased to see that our voices have been heard to a considerable extent. The new rules will provide increased legal certainty, homogeneity and transparency in platform economy, something that will benefit workers, customers, and also platforms themselves.”