A bill in nine articles to “protect work in cases of use of digital platforms and counteract the phenomena of labor exploitation”. This is the proposal of the senators of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on working conditions in Italy, on exploitation and on safety in public and private workplaces presented by President Gianclaudio Bressa. An initiative that collects the “full adhesion” of the Minister of Labor, Andrea Orlando. Who recalls how a bill of his initiative “coincides with this proposal in many respects”.
How the job market is changing
“If work has changed and is evolving, if today we talk about the digital transition underway, we must not think that the dark side of the labor market is not evolving”, explains Bressa. «The increasingly massive use of new technologies – she adds – has brought out the phenomenon of“ digital hiring ”where workers of the gig economy have replaced agricultural laborers. It is no longer just the van that loads the workers in the morning waiting for the call, but it is the use of algorithms that constitutes the fulcrum for the exploitation of workers. Here, then, is that the deepest danger is that the algorithm and, more generally, artificial intelligence, can become tools without control “.
Minimum levels of protection for workers in the gig economy
The new bill identifies “a series of provisions that establish minimum levels of protection for all workers in the gig economy” and indicates “a series of specific cases in which, if the service is performed via digital platforms, anyone is considered an employee undertakes, by means of remuneration, to collaborate in the enterprise, performing his own intellectual or manual work, even if the service is carried out in whole or in part with tools that are available to the lender “.
New obligations for the client
There are also some “additional measures to protect the personal data of workers in the event that the client uses digital platforms”. And “new obligations for the customer who uses digital platforms” are introduced. Specifically, the client “will have to evaluate the risks for the safety and health of the workers of digital platforms, in particular as regards the possible risks of accidents at work as well as psycho-social and ergonomic risks”.
The knot of subcontractors
Article 4 deals with the issue of the protection of employees of subcontractors and establishes that the subcontractor “must guarantee the same quality and performance standards provided for in the contract”, as well as “grant workers an economic and legal treatment of no less than what the principal contractor would have guaranteed “. Article 5 provides for a specific criminal offense in order to combat the phenomena of fraudulent employment.