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The European Union member states have recently endorsed a set of draft rules aimed at improving protections for gig economy workers.
According to a report published by Reuters, this move comes amidst a global reevaluation of labor practices, with companies like Uber and Deliveroo at the center of the debate over social and labor rights in the digital age.
The draft rules were originally introduced by the European Commission in 2021. According to a report published by reported by Al Jazeera, the draft rules underwent several revisions due to disagreements among EU member states — including major economies like France and Germany. A significant point of contention was the criteria for determining whether workers should be classified as employees or independent contractors.
The final text removes the specific criteria proposed by the European Commission and leaves the determination of employment status up to national law, collective agreements, and case law. However, it shifts the burden of proof to companies to demonstrate that gig workers are not employees.
Despite not being the originally proposed draft, the revised regulations still represent a milestone in the ongoing effort to secure better working conditions for those employed by online platforms. The directive aims to classify gig economy workers as employees in situations where platforms have significant control over their pay, working hours, or monitor their performance electronically. Moreover, it prohibits the use of automated monitoring or decision-making systems for processing certain personal data of platform workers.
The European Parliament is set to vote on the agreement next month, marking the next step in implementing these regulations across the EU.
