The Council of the European Union has definitively adopted the first EU law which aims to improve the working conditions of over 28 million people who work on digital platforms. The directive will make the use of algorithms in human resources management more transparent, ensuring that automated systems are monitored by qualified staff and that workers have the right to challenge decisions made against them.
The context
In March, EU labor ministers gave the green light for the development of a directive, proposed by the European Commission, aimed at improving the working conditions of riders, drivers, or anyone who uses an app to offer a service.
The new directive also had the aim of combating the phenomenon of false VAT numbers which affected approximately 5.5 million workers out of a total of 28 million (2022 data).
The regulation of this situation had encountered some slowdowns due to the noes from France and Germany which had requested the abandonment of the common criteria identified by the Commission on the basis of which it was possible to establish whether a worker was employed or self-employed. There were five criteria and included, for example, maximum limits on the amount of money workers could receive, restrictions on the freedom to organize work and rules on appearance or behavior. If at least two criteria out of the five proposed by the Commission were respected, then the employment relationship could be classified as subordinate.
The new agreement
Pressure from Paris and Berlin had meant that these fixed criteria were left aside, giving individual states the right to determine their own. After various negotiations with Parliament, a common text was finally arrived at. The directive introduces a “legal presumption” that will help determine the employment status of digital platform workers by allowing them to benefit from all the rights acquired by other categories of workers. When elements emerge that indicate control and direction by the platform, it is therefore assumed that an employment relationship exists. These elements will be defined by national laws, collective agreements and EU jurisprudence. Workers or national authorities can invoke this presumption to support misclassification, but it is up to the platform to demonstrate that there is no employment relationship.
The next steps
The directive will now be signed by the Council and the European Parliament and will enter into force following publication in the Official Journal of the EU. Member States will then have two years to incorporate the provisions of the directive into their national legislation.
According to Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Belgian Minister of Economy and Labor and negotiator for the Council of the directive “it is the first EU legislative act that regulates algorithmic management in the workplace and establishes minimum EU standards to improve working conditions of millions of platform workers across the EU. The agreement confirmed today builds on the efforts of previous Council Presidencies and reaffirms the social dimension of the European Union.”