The European Union countries have recently reached an agreement on regulations that determine when gig economy workers on online platforms like Uber and Deliveroo should be treated as employees. This decision comes after weeks of negotiations over the draft text proposed by the European Commission in 2021. The regulations are aimed at approximately 28 million workers in the EU, with projections indicating that this number could rise to 43 million next year.
The draft rules initially proposed by the European Commission included a set of criteria to determine if an online company is an employer. However, after facing resistance from countries such as France, Germany, Estonia, and Greece, the text was revised. The revised text scrapped the proposed criteria and instead stated that national law, collective agreements, and case law would dictate whether a worker is considered an employee. This essentially maintains the status quo, with the burden of proof now falling on companies to demonstrate that gig workers are not employees.
The Platform Work Directive, as it is known, would classify workers on gig-economy apps as employees in cases where platforms control factors such as payment, working hours, or electronically supervise performance. The draft rules also prohibit the use of automated monitoring or decision-making systems to process certain types of personal data of platform workers, such as biometric data or emotional states.
The European Parliament is set to vote on the agreement next month, which will further solidify the regulations surrounding gig economy workers in the EU. Uber, one of the companies directly impacted by these proposed rules, expressed its stance on the matter. An Uber spokesperson stated that the approval of the regulations would essentially maintain the status quo, with platform worker status continuing to be decided on a country-by-country and court-by-court basis. Uber called on EU countries to introduce national laws that provide platform workers with the necessary protections while preserving their independence.
Overall, the agreement reached by EU countries regarding the treatment of gig economy workers on online platforms signifies a step towards ensuring fair working conditions and rights for millions of workers in the EU. The decision to scrap the proposed criteria and rely on existing laws and agreements may provide a more flexible approach to determining employee status, while also placing the onus on companies to prove the employment status of their workers. The upcoming vote in the European Parliament will further shape the future of gig economy workers in the EU and solidify the regulations surrounding their employment status.
