In December, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal to regulate the platform labor market, made up of workers who depend on various apps such as Uber drivers and Deliveroo riders. The phenomenon of this type of economy has exploded recently, reaching 28 million workers in Europe, a figure destined to rise to 43 million by 2025 according to estimates by the European Commission.
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At the same time, this category of workers has often found themselves in a gray area, sometimes with contractual obligations as an employee but social conditions as self-employed. The idea of the European Union is precisely to put an end to this ambiguity, and to give more certainty to a category often made up of socially fragile subjects. For Elisabetta Gualmini, the Democratic Party MEP in charge of the file, the Commission’s proposal marks a revolution in the European approach to social affairs. With the social crisis triggered by the pandemic, in fact, Europe would have detached itself from the logic of austerity in favor of greater protection of social rights.
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Nonetheless, the rapporteur intends to go far beyond the initial proposal. In his draft report presented to the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, the Hon. Gualmini introduced a series of proposals to strengthen worker protection and introduce protections for the use of algorithms in the workplace.
Legal presumption
At the heart of the Commission’s proposal is the so-called relative legal presumption of subordination, a measure that would automatically classify workers who meet certain criteria as employees, unless the platform proves otherwise.
The Commission’s original approach was to trigger this legal presumption for workers who met two of the five criteria. These criteria include determining the maximum pay, aesthetic obligations such as wearing a uniform, supervising performance electronically, restricting the freedom to organize one’s work, for example in terms of hours, and restricting the ability to work for someone else or to independently build relationships with customers.
The center-left MEP broke away from this approach, removing the criteria from the equation and making the legal presumption generalized to all cases of possible conflict between the worker and the employer. “The idea is to correct all those false autonomous that there are around,” explained the Hon. Gualmini. “The world of the platform economy is so varied and vast that it is very difficult to constrain it within five criteria. The status of the worker must be judged on the basis of actual working conditions. “
Platforms such as Glovo and Bolt will need to disclose their contracts to national social security organizations. These transparency obligations are not only to protect workers but also to give the public administration a clear idea of how the platforms operate and combat tax avoidance. If the contract is a freelance contract, in Italy it would be up to the competent authorities such as INPS to verify it, assuming the bond of subordination. The idea is not to verify every single contract, but the nature of the employment relationship between a platform and its workers.
Labor inspectorates will also be in charge of verifying whether the type of contract actually corresponds to the employment relationship, either by random checks or by reporting. The idea is to make the initiation of a lawsuit truly the last resort, but even in this case the legal presumption would apply and it would be up to the platform to prove the actual status of its workers. The Commission’s criteria have been significantly expanded to eleven to provide a non-exhaustive list of elements that competent authorities will be able to consider when judging the nature of an employment relationship.
Algorithms and workers’ rights
The draft report of the European Parliament also stipulates that all significant decisions affecting the working life of workers must be made by one person. In other words, platforms need to ensure that there is a responsible person instead of delegating decisions such as firing or just how much break to give to algorithms.
In a very important change from the initial text, the Hon. Gualmini proposes to extend this human review obligation to all workers who interact with algorithms in their workplace, without necessarily involving a platform.
For example, that protection would extend to Amazon warehouse workers who constantly receive detailed instructions and are monitored by automated systems using artificial intelligence.
Furthermore, all the elements used by the algorithms to evaluate work activity would be subject to collective bargaining. For example, riders could bargain how the system evaluates the time it takes to make a delivery.
The draft report also includes the possibility for workers to communicate freely with each other, a measure intended to allow trade union organization.
“This is not a punitive measure against the platforms. We absolutely do not say that the platform economy should be hyper-regulated and punished. We welcome innovation in the world of work, as long as it does not take away workers’ rights, ”added the Hon. Gualmini.
Legislative process
The draft report marks the beginning of discussions between the different political groups in the European Parliament. Liberal and conservative MEPs, traditionally more pro-business, have already declared their commitment to avoid harming workers who legitimately prefer self-employed contracts.
In parallel, the discussion is also proceeding within the Council of the European Union. Here, Italy sided with Germany, Spain, Belgium and Portugal for more protective legislation towards workers. On the contrary, a block of countries in Northern and Eastern Europe led by France is resisting this legislative proposal in the name of innovation and the specificity of national pension systems.