Proposals by the European Commission for a regulation of platform work raise hopes of more than 28 million platform workers across the EU for improved employment conditions.

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

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