Brussels,

1. Improving the Platform working conditions

Work changes and workers have to develop new knowledge and adaptation skills. Digital platforms have created new forms of collaboration and in the absence of rules these can lead to more unfavorable conditions. For this reason, the EU has taken initiatives for greater protection of those workers.

You can consult:
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• A Commission's Proposal for a Directive setting out the EU approach and measures on platform work. These are complemented by actions that national authorities, social partners and other relevant actors should take at their level. It also aims to lay the foundations for work on future global standards for high-quality platform work.
  

 

• The negotiated text of the Directive (approuved on 14 October 2024 by the EU Council, but not yet published) on platform work). This includes measures to correctly determine the employment status of people working through digital labour platforms and new rights for both workers and self-employed people regarding algorithmic management.
  

 

• Guidelines clarifying the application of EU competition law to collective agreements of solo self-employed people seeking to improve their working conditions. This includes those working through digital labour platforms.

The negotiated text

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The content of the Directive on Working Conditions in Platform Work

The directive introduces several essential measures designed to protect platform workers and ensure fair treatment within the gig economy.

Notably, it will enhance transparency around the use of algorithms in human resources management. Automated systems that influence recruitment, working conditions, and earnings will now be subject to monitoring by qualified personnel. Furthermore, workers will have the right to contest automated decisions that affect their employment status, ensuring accountability in algorithmic management.

In addition to algorithm regulation, the directive will help clarify the employment status of individuals working for platforms. Member states are required to establish a legal presumption of employment, which will be triggered when specific indicators of control and direction are present. This presumption will allow workers, their representatives, or national authorities to claim misclassification, placing the onus on digital platforms to prove that no employment relationship exists. This shift aims to combat the issue of false self-employment prevalent in platform work, ultimately allowing workers to access the labor rights to which they are entitled.

EU Workforce on Platforms

Currently, over 28 million people in the EU are engaged in platform work, performing a wide array of tasks that can be conducted on-site or remotely. Common tasks include delivery services, translation, data input, babysitting, elderly care, and taxi driving. Notably, for many of these workers, platform jobs serve as a secondary source of income alongside their primary employment. As the gig economy expands, projections indicate that by 2025, the number of platform workers in the EU will reach 43 million, further highlighting the need for robust regulations and protections.

Some Statistics on Digital Platform Workers

• 28 million workers in the EU were employed through digital platforms in 2022.
• The number of platform workers is expected to rise to 43 million by 2025.
• Approximately 54% of platform workers are engaged in the gig economy as a secondary source of income.
• Platform work encompasses various tasks, including delivery services, childcare, caregiving, and online freelance work.
• About 40% of platform workers report experiencing difficulties related to income stability and job security.
  

Guide to Key General Provisions of the Directive

Chapter I: General Provisions

Article 1: Subject Matter and Scope

The purpose of this Directive is to improve working conditions and the protection of personal data in platform work by:

• introducing measures to facilitate the determination of the correct employment status of persons performing platform work;
• promoting transparency, fairness, human oversight, safety, and accountability in algorithmic management in platform work; and
• improving transparency with regard to platform work, including in cross-border situations.

This Directive lays down minimum rights that apply to every person performing platform work in the Union who has or who, on the basis of an assessment of the facts, is deemed to have an employment contract or employment relationship as defined by the law, collective agreements, or practice in force in the Member States with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice.
This Directive also lays down rules to improve the protection of natural persons in relation to the processing of their personal data by providing measures on algorithmic management applicable to persons performing platform work in the Union, including those who do not have an employment contract or employment relationship.
This Directive applies to digital labour platforms organizing platform work performed in the Union, irrespective of their place of establishment or of the law otherwise applicable.

Article 2: Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply:

• ‘digital labour platform’ means a natural or legal person providing a service that meets all the following requirements:
  • it is provided, at least in part, at a distance by electronic means, such as by means of a website or a mobile application;
  • it is provided at the request of a recipient of the service;
  • it involves, as a necessary and essential component, the organization of work performed by individuals in return for payment, irrespective of whether that work is performed online or in a certain location;
  • it involves the use of automated monitoring systems or automated decision-making systems.
• ‘platform work’ means work organized through a digital labour platform and performed in the Union by an individual based on a contractual relationship between the digital labour platform or an intermediary and the individual, irrespective of whether there is a contractual relationship between the individual or an intermediary and the recipient of the service.
• ‘person performing platform work’ means an individual performing platform work, irrespective of the nature of the contractual relationship or the designation of that relationship by the parties involved.
• ‘platform worker’ means any person performing platform work who has or is deemed to have an employment contract or an employment relationship as defined by the law, collective agreements, or practice in force in the Member States with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice.
• ‘intermediary’ means a natural or legal person that, for the purpose of making platform work available to or through a digital labour platform:
  • establishes a contractual relationship with that digital labour platform and a contractual relationship with the person performing platform work; or
  • is in a subcontracting chain between that digital labour platform and the person performing platform work.
• ‘workers’ representatives’ means representatives of platform workers, such as trade unions and representatives who are freely elected by the platform workers in accordance with national law and practice.
• ‘automated monitoring systems’ means systems that are used for or which support monitoring, supervising, or evaluating, by electronic means, the work performance of persons performing platform work or the activities carried out within the work environment, including by collecting personal data.
• ‘automated decision-making systems’ means systems that are used to take or support, by electronic means, decisions that significantly affect persons performing platform work, including the working conditions of platform workers, in particular decisions affecting their recruitment, their access to and the organization of work assignments, their earnings, including the pricing of individual assignments, their safety and health, their working time, their access to training, their promotion or its equivalent, and their contractual status including the restriction, suspension, or termination of their account.

The definition of ‘digital labour platform’ laid down in point (a) of paragraph 1 does not include providers of a service whose primary purpose is to exploit or share assets or by means of which individuals who are not professionals can resell goods.
Employment StatusChapter II: Employment Status

Article 4: Determination of Correct Employment Status

Member States shall have appropriate and effective procedures in place to verify and ensure the determination of the correct employment status of persons performing platform work, with a view to ascertaining the existence of an employment relationship as defined by the law, collective agreements, or practice in force in the Member States, with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice, including through the application of the legal presumption of an employment relationship pursuant to Article 5.
The ascertainment of the existence of an employment relationship shall be guided primarily by the facts relating to the actual performance of work, including the use of automated monitoring systems or automated decision-making systems in the organization of platform work, irrespective of how the relationship is designated in any contractual arrangement that may have been agreed between the parties involved.
Where the existence of an employment relationship is established, the party or parties responsible for the obligations of the employer shall be clearly identified in accordance with national legal systems.

Article 5: Legal Presumption

The contractual relationship between a digital labour platform and a person performing platform work through that platform shall be legally presumed to be an employment relationship where facts indicating direction and control, in accordance with national law, collective agreements, or practice in force in the Member States and with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice, are found. Where the digital labour platform seeks to rebut the legal presumption, it shall be for the digital labour platform to prove that the contractual relationship in question is not an employment relationship as defined by the law, collective agreements, or practice in force in the Member States, with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice.

For the purposes of paragraph 1, Member States shall establish an effective rebuttable legal presumption of an employment relationship that constitutes a procedural facilitation for the benefit of persons performing platform work. Moreover, Member States shall ensure that the legal presumption does not have the effect of increasing the burden of requirements on persons performing platform work or their representatives in proceedings to determine their correct employment status.

The legal presumption provided for in this Article shall apply in all relevant administrative or judicial proceedings where the determination of the correct employment status of a person performing platform work is at issue.

The legal presumption shall not apply to proceedings that concern tax, criminal, or social security matters. However, Member States may apply the legal presumption in such proceedings as a matter of national law.

Persons performing platform work and, in accordance with national law and practice, their representatives shall have the right to initiate the proceedings referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 to determine the correct employment status of the person performing platform work.

Where a national competent authority considers that a person performing platform work might be wrongly classified, it shall initiate appropriate actions or proceedings, in accordance with national law and practice, to determine the correct employment status of that person.

With regard to contractual relationships entered into before and ongoing on … [2 years from the date of entry into force of this Directive], the legal presumption provided for in this Article shall apply only to the period starting from that date.
Algorithmic Management

Chapter III: Algorithmic Management

Article 7: Limitations on the Processing of Personal Data by Means of Automated Monitoring Systems or Automated Decision-Making Systems

Digital labour platforms shall not, by means of automated monitoring systems or automated decision-making systems:

• process any personal data on the emotional or psychological state of a person performing platform work;
• process any personal data in relation to private conversations, including exchanges with other persons performing platform work and the representatives of persons performing platform work;
• collect any personal data of a person performing platform work while that person is not offering or performing platform work;
• process personal data to predict the exercise of fundamental rights, including the freedom of association, the right of collective bargaining and action, or the right to information and consultation as laid down in the Charter;
• process any personal data to infer the racial or ethnic origin, migration status, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, disability, state of health, including chronic disease or HIV status, emotional or psychological state, trade union membership, sex life, or sexual orientation;
• process any biometric data, as defined in Article 4, point (14), of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, of a person performing platform work to establish that person’s identity by comparing that data to stored biometric data of natural persons in a database.

This Article shall apply to all persons performing platform work from the start of the recruitment or selection procedure. In addition to automated monitoring systems and automated decision-making systems, this Article shall also apply where digital labour platforms use automated systems taking or supporting decisions that affect persons performing platform work in any manner.

Article 10: Human Oversight of Automated Monitoring Systems and Automated Decision-Making Systems

Member States shall ensure that digital labour platforms oversee and, with the involvement of workers’ representatives, regularly and in any event every two years, carry out an evaluation of the impact of individual decisions taken or supported by automated monitoring systems and automated decision-making systems on persons performing platform work, including, where applicable, on their working conditions and equal treatment at work.

Member States shall require digital labour platforms to ensure sufficient human resources for the effective oversight and evaluation of the impact of individual decisions taken or supported by automated monitoring systems or automated decision-making systems.

The persons charged by the digital labour platform with the function of oversight and evaluation shall have the competence, training, and authority necessary to exercise that function, including for overriding automated decisions. Those persons shall enjoy protection from dismissal or its equivalent, disciplinary measures, and other adverse treatment where they exercise their functions.

Where the oversight or evaluation referred to in paragraph 1 identifies a high risk of discrimination at work in the use of automated monitoring systems or automated decision-making systems or finds that individual decisions taken or supported by automated monitoring systems or automated decision-making systems have infringed the rights of a person performing platform work, the digital labour platform shall take the steps necessary, including, if appropriate, the modification of the automated monitoring system or the automated decision-making system or the discontinuation of its use, to avoid such decisions in the future.


Chapter IV: Transparency with Regard to Platform Work

Article 18: Right to Redress

Without prejudice to Articles 79 and 82 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Member States shall ensure that persons performing platform work, including those whose employment or other contractual relationship has ended, have access to timely, effective, and impartial dispute resolution and a right to redress, including adequate compensation for the damage sustained, in the case of infringements of their rights arising from this Directive.

Some Conclusions

The adoption of the Platform Work Directive marks a significant advancement in addressing the rights and working conditions of platform workers in the EU. By enhancing transparency in algorithmic management and clarifying employment status, the directive sets a precedent for fair treatment in the gig economy.

As member states prepare to implement these changes, EU Institutions are optimism that this initiative will contribute to a more equitable labor market, not just within Europe, but potentially influencing global standards for platform work.

​Next steps

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive in 2 years from the date of publication of this Directive. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof. Member States shall, in accordance with their national law and practice, take adequate measures to ensure the effective involvement of the social partners and to promote and enhance social dialogue with a view to implementing this Directive.

When Member States adopt those measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.

Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main measures of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

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2. Self-Employed People: Guidelines on the application of EU competition law

On 29 September 2022, the European Commission has adopted its Guidelines on the application of EU competition law to collective agreements (‘Guidelines') regarding the working conditions of solo self-employed people. The Guidelines clarify when certain self-employed people can get together to negotiate collectively better working conditions without breaching EU competition rules.
Aim of the Guidelines: The guidelines clarify how individuals without employment contracts, specifically solo self-employed persons, can negotiate collectively to improve their working conditions without violating EU competition rules.

Key Points:

• Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union prohibits agreements that restrict competition, such as fixing prices or trading conditions. While collective agreements between employers and workers are not subject to EU competition rules, solo self-employed individuals are treated as "undertakings" and may infringe these rules when negotiating collectively on fees or conditions.
• The guidelines state that EU competition law does not apply to collective agreements of solo self-employed persons in situations comparable to workers. This includes cases where they:
  • Provide services mainly to one undertaking.
  • Perform similar work as employees of that undertaking.
  • Offer services through digital labor platforms.

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• The European Commission will not enforce competition rules against collective agreements made by solo self-employed individuals who are at a disadvantage in negotiations with more powerful companies or when such negotiations are in line with national or EU laws.
  

Types of Agreements Covered: The guidelines encompass various forms of collective negotiations, including:

• Bargaining through social partners or associations.
• Direct negotiations by groups of solo self-employed persons with the undertaking regarding:
  • Pay, rewards, and bonuses.
  • Working hours and patterns.
  • Holiday and leave entitlements.
  • Workspaces and health and safety conditions.
  • Insurance and social security.
  • Conditions under which services can be terminated by either party.

Exclusions: The guidelines do not apply to agreements that set prices for consumer services or restrict an undertaking’s freedom to hire necessary labor providers.

Scope: The guidelines specifically address solo self-employed individuals providing services primarily through personal labor. They may use goods or assets to assist in providing their services (e.g., cleaners with cleaning supplies or musicians with instruments). However, they do not apply to those whose work is limited to using or reselling goods and services.

Monitoring and Implementation: The European Commission will monitor the implementation of these guidelines at the national level through the European Competition Network and discussions with social partners. A review of the guidelines is planned by 2030. The guidelines were published on September 30, 2022.

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