Presents a directive to regularize the situation of 5.5 million workers that it estimates as ‘false self-employed’
Improve their working conditions, provide them with greater legal security and unify the different national criteria. Those are some of the objectives pursued by the directive launched this Thursday by the European Commission to regularize the situation in which, according to its own data, more than five million employees linked to different delivery platforms such as Uber, Globo or Deliveroo are found. .
The Executive of Ursula von der Leyen understands that the time has come to create a common framework because more than 28 million people in the EU work through digital labor platforms; a number expected to reach 43 million in four years. Thus, he immerses himself in a complex work environment that, according to his own diagnosis, has significant flaws.
Thus, although “the vast majority of these people are actually self-employed,” it is estimated that “5.5 million are incorrectly classified as self-employed.” A situation that Brussels considers unacceptable, even more so considering that between 2016 and 2020, the income of these platforms almost quintupled, from around 3,000 million euros to 14,000.
The new rules, which still require the authorization of the Twenty-seven, should guarantee that the people who work for these digital companies “can enjoy the labor rights and social benefits to which they are entitled.” They will also receive additional protection regarding the use of algorithmic management (that is, automated systems that support or replace management functions at work).
The proposed Directive would ultimately seek to put an end to this condition of ‘false self-employed’ of many of these ‘riders’; In fact, criteria are provided to distinguish between self-employed workers and employees, guaranteeing the latter the labor and social rights that are contemplated for the rest in their same condition. Which means, for example, having the right to a minimum wage (today 55% would receive lower income), collective bargaining, working time and health protection, the right to paid holidays or better access to protection against accidents at work , unemployment and sickness benefits, as well as contributory old-age pensions.
The platforms will have the right to challenge or “refute” this classification, “with the burden of proving that there is no employment relationship” without closing the door to the final appeal of the courts. They are invited to adjust their business model to the new rules, something that Brussels sees feasible because the criteria it proposes “will bring greater legal certainty to the platforms, reduce litigation costs and facilitate business planning.”
Some of these criteria to discern the employment situation would be, for example, the analysis of the formulas and amounts of remuneration; control of the working day by electronic means; if there are restrictions on the freedom of workers to choose their hours, breaks, etc., or if they can accept or reject labor charges or use subcontractors or substitutes.
“We must make the most of the job creation potential of digital platforms. But we must also make sure that they are quality jobs, that they do not promote precariousness, so that the people who work through them have security and can plan their future ”, stressed the Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit.
The Luxembourg politician who is promoting this new legal framework has also insisted that “technological progress must be fair and inclusive, so the proposal also addresses transparency and supervision of platform algorithms.” In this way, workers would have the right to know the control systems that the company they work for has access to details such as the evaluation of clients or the mechanisms that are followed to assign tasks.
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