The text was eagerly awaited by millions of people. The European Parliament and EU member states agreed on Wednesday on legislation to strengthen the rights of millions of workers on digital platforms like Uber and Deliveroo.
This text plans to reclassify as employees many people currently considered self-employed in order to strengthen their social protection, underlined the European Parliament.
While the regulations on the platforms are today very disparate among the Twenty-Seven, the new legislation intends to set identical rules at EU level to determine whether meal deliverers or VTC drivers working for the large digital platforms must be reclassified as employees.
30 million workers on the platforms
The EU estimates that “at least 5.5 million”, out of a total of some 30 million, are the number of platform workers now wrongly considered self-employed.
“Drivers and delivery people will obtain the social rights to which they are entitled” while “platforms will benefit from legal certainty”, welcomed European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, at the origin of the Commission proposal presented in December 2021.
Since then, the text has been negotiated by the co-legislators who announced a political agreement on Wednesday. It will still have to be formally approved by MEPs in plenary session and by the Council of the EU which represents the member states.
Presumption of employment
“This is a revolutionary agreement and the first legislative framework for digital platform workers,” said Italian Social Democratic MEP Elisabetta Gualmini, rapporteur of the text.
In order to harmonize the status of platform workers, the new legislation establishes five criteria: the fact that a platform sets remuneration levels, remotely supervises services, does not allow its employees to choose their schedules or refuse work missions, requires the wearing of uniforms, or even prohibits working for other companies.
If at least two criteria are met, the platform would be “presumed” to be an employer, and would have to comply with labor law obligations (minimum salary, working hours, sick pay, safety standards, etc.) imposed by the country’s legislation concerned.
Member States will have the possibility of expanding this list of criteria. The presumption of employment may be triggered by the worker, by his representatives and by the competent authorities on their own initiative. In the event of a challenge by the platform, it will be the one that must provide proof that the independent status is justified in order to overturn the decision.